Tournament
by zlinka
Summary: This a revisit of my first fanfiction. It's a cross over fiction of Naruto and Ranma. ShikaXHina. Please R&R. BTW I don't own Naruto, so don't sue me. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Tsunade, fifth Hokage of Konoha, stared out the window of her office, marveling at the hidden village that she ran. She had seen the view many times before, as the Hokage, as a ninja, and even as a child, watching in admiration as her Grandfather took care of the village. She heard the door of her office open and close, but didn't bother breaking her gaze away from her village. She knew exactly who had dared interrupt her, and why they did it.

"There is a shougi tournament in Honey Country every year," she started testily. It didn't matter that she had summoned them to her office; no one interrupted her when she was musing. "Konoha usually hold its own tournament to decide who gets to represent us at this tournament. This year will be different," She turned her chair around now, smiling at the three young chuunins that stood on the other side of her desk. She reached over and picked up a non-descript manila envelope. She pulled out several pictures and fanned them out for the chuunins.

"This is Akane Tendo," she said as she picked up one of the pictures. It featured a young woman in a blue school uniform. She wasn't looking at the camera, but rather at something behind the photographer. Her face was graced with a vague smile and a dreamy far away look. "She was kidnapped several days ago. The family received a note informing them that she is going to be the first place prize in this tournament."

"Ano," a quiet voice interrupted her, "Is that even legal?"

"It is in the Honey Country, as long as the person being offered as the prize is willing. The family reports that Akane Tendo is most definitely not a willing participant, but they can't prove it to the authorities in Honey Country," Tsunade explained. Then she got out another photograph out. "This is Ranma Saotome," the photo was of a young man making a face at the camera. His black hair was pulled back in a braid, and he had very blue eyes. "He is Akane Tendo's fiancé. He has entered the tournament in an attempt to win her back."

"So how did we get pulled into this?" an uninterested voice asked.

"We have been hired by Akane Tendo's older sisters, Kasumi and Nabiki Tendo. They say that while traditionally, Ranma save Akane during these situations, he's very much a man of action, and not very good at strategy. They've hired us to make sure that Akane gets rescued, or that Ranma wins the tournament. Which ever is easier."

"Who are the other people in the photos?"

Individually she pointed out each picture, "Ukyou Kuonji, Shampoo, Mousse, Ryouga Hibiki, Cologne, and Tatewachi and Kodachi Kuno. These are people who are likely to be both ally and enemy to you and your endeavors."

"Who's who?"

"No one is really sure about that," Tsunade replied deadpan. "The tournament starts in seven days. That will give you plenty of time to come up with a strategy. Any questions?"

"What exactly is someone winning if they win the tournament?"

"They're winning Akane Tendo."

"You mean like a slave?"

"Pretty much."

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After that revelation, the three chuunin stood outside the door of the Hokage's doors. Each lost in their own thoughts.

"Man," one of them started. He was wearing a plain black turtleneck underneath his chuunin's vest. His black hair was pulled back into the same ponytail that it had been in since the other two chuunin's had known him, "This is going to be a troublesome mission."

"Everything is troublesome to you Shikamaru," one of the other two chuunin stated. He was a tall and tan young man with red lines streaking down his cheeks. A giant while dog with floppy ears sat by his heels, woofing softly in agreement with him.

"Hn."

"Isn't it weird how much Hinata and that girl looked alike?" Kiba, the dog ninja asked no one in particular.

This caused the third chuunin to gasp and stumble. She had shoulder length blue-black hair, and silver pupil less eyes. Her cheeks were turning an interesting shade of red, and she seemed to be trying to say something, but no words were coming out.

"Well, obviously more like how Hinata used to look, when her hair was shorter, but the similarities are kind of freaky," he continued.

"K-Kiba-kun," Hinata protested, even though she wasn't sure why. It's true she and the girl in the photo did look very similar.

"Huh?" Kiba asked, snapping back into reality. "Well obviously you're way prettier," he assured her, mistaking her protest for complement fishing. Hinata turned an even brighter red, "Oi, are you sick or something?" Kiba asked as he placed his hand on her forehead.

As amusing as it was to see how red Hinata could turn, Shikamaru decided to intervene. "Lets split up and pack for the mission," he suggested. "We can meet at the front gate at one and be on our way. Hinata, you've been to Honey Country before, how far away is it?"

"It's about a half days journey from here. We'll have to camp out tonight because there aren't many inns along the way," she explained.

"Akamaru says that there's going to be rain tonight," Kiba warned, while rubbing his dog's ears.

"Good to know," Shikamaru said, nodding more to himself then to anyone else. The three went their separate ways, each trying to figure out what they would need and how they would contribute the most to the success of the mission.

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Hinata cautiously made her way onto the families private training grounds. She could hear her cousin and father training. 'It's best not to interrupt them right now,' she thought to herself as she strode along the wall. She didn't try hiding, because they would definitely see her if she tried that, but she did try to remain quiet so as not to disturb their training.

A kunai shot out in front of her and thudded into the wall, centimeters away from her big toe. She didn't even pause, but stepped around it. Sometimes her father did this to her to make sure she was paying attention.

She made it to the other side of the room, before her father decided to address her.

"I hear that you have been assigned a new mission," he stated, his voice giving away nothing of how he felt about this news.

"Yes. Shikamaru, Kiba, and I will be in Honey Country for a little over a week," 'Two can play at that game,' she thought smugly as she answered back, just as deadpan.

There was an awkward silence as the two Hyuugas measured each other. Finally, her father broke it. "Don't disgrace yourself." It was the closest to good luck he would ever allow himself to give to anyone.

Hinata smiled beatifically at him as she made her way to her bedroom to pack. Her steps were lighter, even though she managed to refrain from skipping.

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Kiba opened the front door to his house with a bang. Instantly he was pounced on by dogs, many many dogs. Kiba just rolled around on the floor with them, greeting them with the same enthusiasm as they greeted him.

Soon, every dog had been greeted properly, and Kiba made his way into the kitchen, where his mom was brewing up another medical potion for a sick puppy.

"Hey Mom," he greeted casually, "I'm going to be in Honey Country for a little over a week." Then he left the room to start packing.

"Fine," she called back, "Don't cause any international incidents." Then there was a pause, "Oh, and Akamaru's bitch is pregnant. Better start looking for homes for the puppies when you get back."

"Alright," he shouted as he tried to stuff some cleanish clothes into his little backpack without bothering to fold them.

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Shikamaru walked into his home, and went strait to his room. He packed his clothes neatly, triple checked his weapons, and made sure that he had his travel shougi set so that he could play.

Then he checked the house to see if anyone was home. No one was in the house, so he went out to the field. His mom was pouring some more water into a trough.

"I'm leaving for mission. I'll be back some time next week. Chouji said that he would cover my chores for me," he informed her and tried to beat a hasty retreat.

She was silent for a while as she watched her only son walk away. Then she called him back to her. "Don't die," she told him earnestly, as she kissed his cheek. She knew that he wouldn't appreciate it, even at the age of 18, he still hated public displays of affection. She chuckled to herself as she watched him try to wipe his cheek off on his sleeve.

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The three ninjas met again at the front gates. They looked at the sky and all had the same thoughts, 'I hope that the other guys brought the tent.' Then they set off to their mission, ready to face whatever may come their way.


	2. Chapter 2

Hinata was enjoying a quiet walk through the woods. They were about four hours out of Konoha and so far they haven't been ambushed by overly powerful outlaw nin who may or may not have anything to do with the mission that they were currently on. Of course, they weren't on a mission with Naruto, so the likelihood of that happening was greatly diminished.

Hinata hoped that her blush was faint enough to go unnoticed. She liked Naruto, not obsessively like she had when she was 12, but in the way you like someone completely unattainable. Naruto was to Hinata what Johnny Depp was to millions of fan girls the world over, someone to dream about while they pleasured themselves.

"Akamaru says that there's someone coming," Kiba warned, his voice cutting through the fog that her less then pure thoughts caused in her mind.

"Byakugan," Hinata ordered, moving chackra to her eyes, so that the veins around them puffed up, and her irises lost all color. The figure coming their way was leaning heavily against a very thick branch.

"Male, young, healthy chackra system," she informed them, giving them the only information that she could on the low focus byakugan she used. If she had amped it up all the way, she could have told them everything, down to the color of his underwear and the number of nose hairs he had.

She turned to Shikamaru; byakugan still activated, and wished that she hadn't. He winced almost perceptibly; she would have missed it if not for being a Hyuuga.

'I forgot that he's not used to seeing me with my byakugan activated,' she thought sadly, knowing that male Hyuugas got all the luck when it came to the appearance of the byakugan. 'On them it can look attractive, maybe even handsome. On me it looks creepy.'

"Okay," he said slowly, "We act like he's just some guy passing us by. But keep an eye out for danger." Hinata deactivated her byakugan, and continued walking with her teammates.

As the male drew closer they all noticed his Chinese style clothing. He was wearing primarily white robes, with some red design on them over a pair of blue pants. He had long flowing hair that wafted in the nonexistent wind.

By the time they could see the color of his dark brown eyes, he latched his gaze onto Hinata, and got a glazed look to his face. He grinned at them like Naruto after he saw a sign that said, "Free Ramen." Before they could blink, he moved and enveloped Hinata in a bone-crushing hug.

"Shampoo! My love!" He shouted for all to hear, "I've been looking for you all over! How fortuitous of me to find you here after all my searching." Then he pulled back a little and squinted into Hinata's brightly blushing face, "Have you cut your hair my love?"

"Ano…" Hinata said smartly, not quite sure how to approach the situation. "I don't know who you are."

"My love?" he questioned, "Why do you disguise your voice from me? It's no use anyway. I would know the luscious curves of your body anywhere."

"What?" squeaked Hinata. No one had ever called her curves luscious before. It was kind of flattering.

Somewhere behind her she heard Kiba growl, "You can't say things like that to Hinata," he snarled as he threw a punch at the stranger.

The stranger ducked the punch. Quickly he sprang back up and went flying at Kiba. They punched and kicked at each other with a viciousness that Hinata couldn't understand. Soon, they were locked together, baring their fangs and growling.

"Who are you to stand in the way of me and my love?" the stranger demanded.

"You can't talk to Hinata like that!" Kiba shouted, ignoring the stranger's question.

"Who's Hinata?" the stranger asked. He and Kiba separated and assumed defensive positions, but neither made a move to attack.

"…Ano," Hinata tried to interrupt. Mentally she was cursing herself for not being able to think of something else to start the sentence with. "I'm Hinata."

"Very funny Shampoo," the stranger said. "I would know you anywhere. By the way, your Japanese has greatly improved."

"Um… thank you?" she said graciously. "Do you need glasses?"

The stranger paused, then started patting his robes, "I'm so sorry my love," he said quickly, "I didn't even realize that I wasn't wearing them." Finally he reached into his robe sleeve, and pulled out a pair of very thick glasses. He put them on and peered at Hinata.

"What have you done with Shampoo!" he demanded, pointing an accusatory finger at Hinata.

"Nothing!" Hinata squeaked. It was at that moment that she recognized the stranger from one of the pictures in the Hokage's office. She glanced over at Shikamaru and Kiba to see if they noticed.

"You lie! She was here just a moment ago!"

"That was me," she explained meekly.

Mousse looked her up and down, and snorted. "Yeah right. My Shampoo is better endowed then that." Hinata gasped in outrage.

"You can't talk about Hinata like that!" Kiba shouted again, ready to hurtle himself at the blind man. It seemed like they were going to go at it again, until the voice of reason cut through.

"We don't have time for this," Shikamaru stated, then walked between Kiba and Mousse and continued walking towards Honey country. Hinata quickly followed while there was still an awkward pause between the two combatants.

Kiba gaped after his teammates, then started running after them. Mousse saw this, and chased after Kiba.

"You coward!" he shouted, "come back here and finish this!" Kiba ignored him, until chains wrapped around his torso and he felt himself being pulled back. "Don't worry guys," he shouted as he was going backwards, "I'll catch up with you guys as soon as I take care of these bozo!"

This was the last that Hinata saw of either of them. She told Shikamaru what had happened, and he just shrugged.

"Kiba will catch up," he said, and continued walking towards their goal. "We better set up camp soon, it's getting dark and looks like it's going to rain."

After about five minutes of continued walking, they found a spot that looked like a good camping spot. They each set their packs down, and looked at the other expectantly.

"Alright," Shikamaru said stretching, "Break out the tent and we'll get it set it up."

"I don't have a tent," Hinata said, "I guess Kiba has it."

"Aw man," Shikamaru muttered, "We'll be all wet when he gets here." He glared at the sky, then in the direction that he expected Kiba to come from.

It started raining. Soon big drops of very cold water came hurdling from the sky, to bounce slightly as they impacted the ground. Hinata and Shikamaru huddled under the meager protection of a tree, trying to get as far into the bark as possible.

Hinata searched through her pack quickly, looking for a blanket, because the air temperature had dropped several degrees. Quickly she pulled the blanket out and wrapped it around herself. It was a little better, but not by much.

Beside her she could hear Shikamaru sigh deeply. She glanced over at him, and noticed that he hadn't gotten his blanket out. She gave him a questioning glance.

"I don't want to sleep under a wet blanket," he explained peevishly. Hinata nodded at his words, then went back to staring out into the darkness. Every now and then she would see movement coming this way, then be disappointed because it usually turned out to be nothing. It seemed like Kiba was never going to catch up to them.

Shikamaru sighed again, and rubbed his arms. 'He's probably cold.' Hinata thought. "Do you want to share my blanket?" she asked him politely.

Shikamaru gave her a questioning look, then nodded cautiously. Hinata parted the blanket, allowing space so that he could crawl inside. He approached her as if he were afraid that it was a trap. Hinata gave him an irritated look, because the longer he took to get under the blanket, the colder she got. Finally she could feel his cold clothing brush across hers. After a while, she could feel the warmth of his flesh underneath the clothing, and it started to loll her to sleep.

She politely covered her yawn with her mouth, and shut her eyes for a brief moment. Not to sleep, but to rest them.

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Shikamaru was annoyed with himself. He had left his blanket at home. Usually he didn't have to worry about bringing a blanket. Chouji always remembered small stuff like that. He rubbed his arms to fend of the cold.

"Do you want to share my blanket?" a quiet voice broke through his brooding.

'Does she know that I lied?' he thought, remembering that she was a Hyuuga, with the all-seeing eyes. Inwardly he shook his head as outwardly he nodded. Pride was all good and well, but hypothermia was another thing all together.

With as much dignity as he could muster, he crawled under her blanket, and relished the pain of warmth rushing into his cold limbs. He sighed happily when it stopped hurting and started feeling good.

Hinata yawned, jostling him a little as she lifted her hand to her mouth. He started staring out into the gloom when she pulled her hand back into their warm cocoon, and tried forcing Kiba to show up with his mind.

He glanced over at his teammate, whose head was lowered at a painful angle. Her breathing was deep and even, which told Shikamaru that she was sleeping. He knew from experience that if she stayed in that position for long, she would have a very bad crick in her neck when she woke up.

After some debate, he gently gripped her shoulders. When she didn't stir from this, he slowly started pulling her towards him and the tree. Her limp for came back easily enough, but then her head flopped to the side, striking his shoulder heavily.

She stirred a little, and Shikamaru froze. He didn't want to have to explain what he was doing with his arms around her. She didn't move, and he released his breath. He shifted a little, so that her head was resting on his shoulder, and leaned back waiting for Kiba. He also contrived to make this scene look like it was an everyday occurrence.

'Yeah, I always hold a cute girl in my arms while she sleeps,' he snorted to himself, trying to ignore the persistent blush that tried creeping up his neck.

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Kiba was busily dodging weapons that were appearing out of nowhere. 'How'd he activate the summoning scroll?' he questioned. The only other person he knew who had anywhere near this many weapons was Ten Ten.

He felt the first pattering of the rain hit his cheek, but he ignored it, because this was too much fun. This guy was good, and understood the entertainment a fight offered, even if it didn't have the added edge of a life or death conflict.

The rain beat down harder on Kiba, but still he ignored it. Unfortunately, his opponent didn't.

"Oh fu…" he started, "…ack" he finished. In the place of Kiba's opponent was a pile of clothing that he had been wearing. Underneath the clothing was a white duck, wearing the same glasses that the stranger had been wearing.

Kiba stopped suddenly, briefly allowing gravity to take control. He blinked at the duck.

"That's the weirdest body switching jutsu I've ever seen," he said to himself, and his faithful canine companion. "Hey Akamaru, can you smell him?" Akamaru barked. "Dude that wouldn't work." Kiba argued. Akarmaru just insisted. "Fine, whatever." He said as he walked up to the duck. He lifted it gingerly, peering under it to, as if expecting his opponent to be hiding under it. "Akamaru says that you are the bozo I was fighting," he informed it, "So, I'm going to take you with me, until you turn back and we can finish this." Kiba grinned ferally at the now quaking duck.

He then set off to find his teammates. The rain would make it difficult for him if it weren't for the fact that he knew the way they were going. He called Akamaru to him, and got on the giant dog, riding him to where he thought Shikamaru and Hinata would be camping. 'I hope they have the tent set up,' he thought vaguely as he shivered from the cold.


	3. Chapter 3

Mousse had quacked until his throat was raw. This had never happened to him before. There had always been someone around who had known about the Jusenkyou or happened to speak duck, but this time he was helpless.

'The stupid jackass even left my clothes behind!' he thought venomously. Mousse was glaring at the back of the dogs head, when the arms wrapped around him tightened painfully. He squawked indignantly and tried to reach one of his daggers. 'It's a good thing that I can use my Hidden Weapons technique in any form,' he thought as he readied himself to stab his kidnapper.

"Oi, Shikamaru!" Kiba shouted into the gloom. "What do you think you're doing to Hinata?" From out of the gloom, Mousse could hear the sound of someone being woken from an almost deep sleep.

"K-Kiba?" a groggy voice questioned. Then there was the sound of shuffling, and possibly an embarrassed squeek. From out of the gloom, appeared a big fuzzy blob that focused into two teenagers, sitting under a blanket. One of them, the girl from earlier, was wiping her eyes, and turning an interesting shade of red. The other, some guy with a spiky ponytail, looked bored, but he did have an interesting flush covering the bridge of his nose and cheeks.

"How can you take advantage of her like that?" his captor screamed at the two.

"You woke us up," ponytail boy complained. "Take advantage of me?" the girl questioned at the same time.

"I trusted you to take care of her!" Scruffy shouted.

"I can take care of myself," a quiet voice interrupted.

"What are you talking about?" an annoyed voice questioned.

"I leave you alone with Hinata, because I trusted you to take care of her, and when I find you again, you're all snuggled up. You could be groping her under that blanket!" he accused wildly, pointing.

"Kiba!" a shocked gasp came from the girl.

"…And she was sleeping too!"

"Kiba!" the quiet voice was more firm, "Shikamaru wouldn't do something like that and you know it. We're under the blanket to keep warm and nothing else. Now get the tent out so we can all dry off." This last part was said quietly. It almost sounded like she might have hurt her throat by talking as much and as forcefully as she had.

"Aw, I'm sorry Hinata," and the arms around Mousse loosened, "I just don't want you to get hurt or nothin'."

"That's okay Kiba."

"Why didn't you guys set the tent up already?"

"Because you have it," the other guy said.

"No I don't. I thought one of you did." There was an awkward silence.

"Grab a blanket and join the huddle," the other guy sighed.

"Okay. But you gotta hold the duck," Mousse was transferred over to the girl. She cuddled him close to her, and Mousse could once again feel the delicious curves that she hid under her clothing.

"Why do you have a duck?" she questioned.

"Akamaru says that this duck is the same guy that groped Hinata," Mousse's opponent shrugged, "Hey Hinata, did you pack an extra blanket for me? I forgot mine."

"Of course Kiba. I'll get it out in just a second," she handed Mousse off to the other guy, and rummaged through her pack. She pulled out a blanket and handed it to Kiba.

The other guy was shifting Mousse around, holding him at odd angles. "What kind of henge is this?" he asked no one in particular.

"It acted like a body switching jutsu," Kiba replied, "One minute he's there. The next, there's a duck."

"What hand seals did he use?" Hinata questioned.

"None."

"So what triggered it?"

"I don't know. I couldn't even sense a flux in his chackra."

"Weird. Guess we'll have to wait 'til he changes back," the still unnamed one shrugged, then proceeded to get comfortable. "Well, time to get some sleep." With those words, he closed his eyes, and Mousse could feel him go to sleep right then and there.

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Hinata woke up the next morning, stiff, cold, and cuddling with a duck. At first, she thought that she had gotten drunk, because that's what had happened the last time she had woken up in a similar situation. The lack of a blinding headache is what brought memories of last night back to her.

'Silly Kiba,' she thought fondly, 'No one is out to take advantage of me. Wonder where he got that idea?' Hinata had always thought of Shino and Kiba as honorary older brothers, and she had always assumed that they thought the same way about her. They had never given any indication that they thought of her in a romantic way.

She stayed seated, as she stretched cautiously. It was then that she noticed that neither Shikamaru nor Kiba were still sleeping. They had built a campfire, and were preparing breakfast. Hinata stretched and almost got up to grab some breakfast. It was then that she noticed that something had slithered down her back the night before, and remained cold and clammy against her skin. She grimaced in disgust.

Cautiously Hinata started removing her clothing from the day before under the blanket. She, like most shinobi, had practice undressing in front of people without being noticed. She had just removed her shirt, and unclasped her bar when Kiba approached.

"Good to see you're awake," Kiba greeted her, as he passed her a steaming cup of what smelled like tea. She accepted it gratefully, and ignored the fact that it slightly burned her fingers. She blew on it to cool it down, and started sliding her bra down her arm. This action caused hot liquid to dribble over her fingers. She inhaled sharply, as a puff of smoke blew up in her face. Where once there was a bespeckled white duck, now sat a very naked man.

Hinata's eyes widened, and she was in such a shock, that she didn't even have time to blush before everything went black.

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Shikamaru was squatting in front of the campfire, keeping an eye on the rice in the pot as it bubbled happily away. He noticed that Hinata was changing her clothes under the blanket that they had shared the night before. He fought the blush that was creeping up his cheeks at the image of her naked.

'Weird,' he thought to himself, 'I stopped acting like this within weeks of being partnered with Ino, and she's been naked around me a lot.' They had been teammates for six years now, and after getting used to her nudity, he stopped blushing at the thought of naked girls all together. 'Why is the thought of Hinata being naked just a few feet away so appealing?'

Shikamaru stirred the rice, and produced his traveling bowl. He was in the process of scooping his breakfast into the bowl when he heard a muffled "bamph." He looked to see a cloud of smoke where Hinata once lay. He got up to investigate, spilling his breakfast in the process.

When the smoke cleared, he saw a naked man wearing glasses sitting in Hinata's lap. Shikamaru didn't know what he was going to do, and didn't have to worry about it, because the man was tackled by Kiba, leaving a half naked Hinata sprawled against the tree they had spent the night under.

He tore his gaze away from the awesome sight of Hinata's pale breasts, but not before he memorized how they looked, and he exact color of pink her nipples were. He blushed as he imagined how they would change if his hand were to pass over them, or how they would look glistening from a coat of his saliva.

The sound of cartalidge snapping had him staring at Kiba as his fists slammed into the body of the naked man. The naked man was protecting his body as best he could, and trying to explain that it was an accident.

'Kiba has that under control,' Shikamaru thought as he glanced back at Hinata, who was beginning to show signs of coming to. Like the gentleman his mother raised him to be, and because having her faint again would be a waste of time, Shikamaru turned his back to allow her some privacy.

"Kiba," he said quietly, but with authority, which caused Kiba to look at him, giving the naked man a rest. "He's obviously changed back. If you don't kill him we can question him."

"But he was taking advantage of Hinata!" whined Kiba as he threw one last punch at his victim.

"You're the one who gave him to her to begin with," Shikamaru pointed out.

Kiba grumbled as he roughly picked up the duck man, and manhandled him over to his bag. From his bag he pulled out a piece of rope and started tying him up. Once that was accomplished, he threw a blanket onto his lap.

Hinata had finished waking up, and sikamaru could hear her embarrassment even though she hadn't uttered a sound. His ears started heating up in sympathy. "You might want to finish getting dressed," he said, fighting the urge to look over his shoulder at her.

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Hinata was so embarrassed that she was tempted to pass out again. It would only put off the inevitable confrontation between her and the cause of her fainting spell, but it might be worth the extra minute of compuosure that it would allow her.

Looking at Shikamaru's back, and hearing the sounds of Kiba protecting her honor made her reconsider. Shikamaru sounded annoyed. Well more annoyed then he usually sounds, and she could only guess that he was not a morning person.

Hinata scrambled into a clean bra and shirt, and put the dirty ones in a bag that she packed specifically for dirty clothes. When she was finished she cleared her throat to get Shikamaru's attention. He turned around and she saw a flush across his cheeks. 'I hope he's not getting sick,' she thought to herself as she smiled at him.

"Where's Kiba?"

Shikamaru gestured with his chin, his arms crossed over his chest. She didn't bother turning her head, instead she focused her 360 degree view in the direction that he indicated. Kiba was leaning over the man from the photos, holding his hair and growling something at him. Her brow crinkled a little as she focused on what he was saying.

"…You better pray that she forgives you…"

"Kiba," she called out, "Leave him alone." She contained her grin at the expression on Shikamaru's face. He was clearly surprised at what she just did, probably more for the fact that she did it then for the fact that she could do it.

She wasn't showing off just to show off. She was doing it because when she worked with Kiba it was always a good idea to remind him that he couldn't get away with anything when she was around. 'It's kind of like the rumors that Iruka-sensei had eyes in the back of their heads,' she thought ruefully.

"Aw Hinata!" complained Kiba from behind her. She turned around and walked over to the two. After politely shooing Kiba away she knelt down in front of the now very bruised man.

"We haven't been properly introduced," she started, smiling at him. "My name is Hinata Hyuuga. What's yours?"

"I'm Mousse, Master of the Hidden Weapons Technique," he smiled at her, and she had to stop herself from cringing at the sight of his bloody teeth. "I'm very sorry for what happened earlier."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Hinata said, blushing furiously for being reminded. "So what happened?"

Now it was his turn to blush. Through his thick glasses Hinata could see his eyes lower so that he was staring at the space between them. "I am an Amazon from Jusenkyo," he started, "Near my home village his a valley full of pools of water. Each of these pools have a curse. While training there, I fell into the pool known as Spring of Drwoned Duck."

"How does a duck drown?" Hinata questioned.

"How does an octopus drown? Let alone get to the middle of China. Who knows? The magic of the springs doesn't conform to the laws of logic," he shrugged at this. "Well anyway, now whenever I come in contact with cold water I turn into a duck. Whenever I come into contact with warm water as a duck, I revert back to my normal body."

"Oh," she said, nodding at the logic of his statement, "But where are your clothes?"

Now Mousse glared a Kiba, "He left them behind. Some of my favorite weapons were in there," he muttered.

"You have more weapons on you?" she questioned, trying not to imagine all the disturbing places that he could be hiding his weapons.

"Yes, and no," he stated. Then he looked around. "I would show you, but then it wouldn't be a secret."

"I understand," she said grinning at him. "So, where were you going?"

"I was trying to find my love, Shampoo," he stated passionately. Hinata felt envious of this girl. 'To have someone love her so much as to follow her across the country,' she thought, smothering a sigh. "The last I heard she and Elder Cologne was heading to Honey Country. I don't know what she was planning on doing there, but I have to be there to protect her."

"That's sweet," Hinata gushed a little. "Once we get you dressed, would you like to travel with us? We're going there ourselves."


	4. Chapter 4

Shikamaru smirked as he watched Kiba gently, but firmly, grab Hinata by the shoulders, lift her up and carry her over to where he was standing.

"Please excuse us for a moment," Kiba called, with barely concealed malice, over his shoulder to the still naked man.

Hinata remained calm, although she was an interesting color of red. Shikamaru idly wondered what life was like on Team 8 if she could remain that calm while being manhandled like that. 'Ino would be having a fit if Chouji or I tried that.' "You wanted to speak with me Kiba?" Shikamaru could hear the barely suppressed giggle in her tone.

"What are you thinkin'?!?" Kiba hissed, not realizing that this made him sound louder, and possibly carried over to Mousse.

"What do you mean?" she asked prettily, keeping her voice down.

"You can't invite that pervert to come with us!"

"Why not?"

"He'll take advantage of you!" This was a shout, not a hiss. Hinata's face turned bright red. Shikamaru heard the subject of this conversation protest incomprehensively.

"K-Kiba," she stuttered, loosing whatever composure she had had before. "According to you _e-every­one_ is out to t-take advantage of me. E-even Neji, my _c-cousin!_" This was said in a quiet squeak of indignation. She stood there quivering in either rage or embarrassment, Shikamaru couldn't tell which.

"That's because he _is_," hissed the incredibly paranoid Kiba, "You're too trusting, and that's going to get you in trouble one of these days." Obviously this was an argument that they had gone over many times before because Hinata just took a deep breath and shook her head.

"Is the purpose of this talk about how he may or may not take advantage of Hinata?" Shikamaru finally asked.

"N-no," Kiba stuttered, "There's more to it then that."

"Oh?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow.

"W-we don't know this guy," spluttered the dog-nin.

"True," Shikamaru nodded.

"But we should keep him where we can keep an eye on him," Hinata pointed out, "After all he is one of the people that Tsunade-sama warned us about."

Shikamaru nodded again, and shut his eyes to think. Oddly enough, even though Hinata and Kiba didn't know his personal habits, they quieted instantly and let him think. Even though he couldn't see their faces, he imagined they were looking at him expectantly. 'Definitely a good look for Hinata,' he thought to himself as he pictured her pale eyes gazing at him adoringly, 'Possibly a hint of lust in the quirk of her lips…' He mentally shook his head so that he could concentrate on the issue at hand.

"We keep him with us," Shikamaru said finally, opening his eyes. Kiba groaned audibly while Hinata just beamed at him. "Make sure we know his location at all times."

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Hinata left the group huddle with a smile on her face. She kept it on as she untied Mousse. "So, have you considered my offer?" she asked quietly as she turned away to give the man some privacy.

"I have," he responded heavily, "And I would be honored if you allowed me to become one of your traveling companions." She could hear him putting on some clothes that Kiba had lent him.

"You may turn around now." Hinata did so, and placed a hand over her mouth. Clothes that were baggy on Kiba, ended up being far too small on him, leaving a strip of stomach between the tops of pants that were baggy around his waist, but ended just below his knees and a hoody that looked tight under the armpits. He kind of looked like an ill-dressed chimpanzee. "So they look as ridiculous as I thought." Hinata nodded helplessly.

"I had my spare clothes in my clothing," he explained, "Otherwise I'd be dressed properly."

"I could go back and fetch them if you like," Hinata offered helpfully.

"I wouldn't want to put you out of your way, Miss Hyuuga," he protested politely.

"It's no problem at all," Hinata dismissed his protests, "And please, call me Hinata."

"Thank you for that honor, but I know my place," Mousse said cryptically.

"Oh?" a sardonic voice questioned, "What does that mean?" Shikamaru stepped out of shadows that weren't there before. Hinata glanced over at him, admiring the way his features looked when he was suspicious. 'Not many people can make that look work for them,' Hinata thought idly.

"My father was an outsider," Mousse started, apparently ignoring Shikamaru's questioned. "The Amazons have a tradition, that if an outsider defeats an Amazon warrior, one of two things will happen. If the outsider is that same gender as the warrior, the warrior will hunt them down to kill them. If they are different genders, the warrior will hunt them down to marry them and add them to the village." The story sounded familiar to Hinata.

"Was your father's name Fuma?" Hinata interrupted.

Mousse's eyes widened and he nodded. "Yes, when my mother met him he went by the name of Fuma Hyuuga. The story goes that Mother was very attracted to him, and after a while, she set up an ambush. She had to use every bit of her skills to escape with her life and as soon as she recuperated, she tracked him down to his village, where she declared that they were married, as tradition demands."

"At my naming ceremony, obviously I don't remember it being two weeks old at the time, but I've read about it in the family scrolls," Hinata giggled. Mousse raised an eyebrow at her. "Apparently your mother tracked Uncle Fuma down, and in front of everyone, tackled him, kissed him on the cheek, and said "Wo ai ni, Airen." Later it was discovered that she had said, "I love you husband." It's written that she stalked him for months, declaring her love for him and attacking any woman who showed more then a passing interest in him. Eventually he got her to calm down, and soon they fell in love."

"Yes," Mousse agreed, "Mother has had one of only 20 successful courtings in two thousand years of Amazon history," he bragged. "All the others have run out of time or had to resort to potions." Hinata opened her mouth to ask him about that statement.

"That's great and all," Shikamaru interrupted, "Everyone loves a story of love at first assault. But what does this have to do with you knowing your place?" Hinata mildly glared at him for his rude behavior.

"Fuma Hyuuga was disowned from the Hyuuga clan shortly after his marriage to Mascara because he had to leave the village. There is no way that someone can be a Hyuuga if they aren't living in Konoha, it's in the original agreement from when they were declared an official clan of Konoha," Hinata explained. "This is so the ceremony that initiates the byakugan in a Hyuuga can never be done, because it takes at least three Hyuuga's to perform. It's the fail safe that keeps our bloodline in the village."

"Again," Shikamaru was sounding annoyed, "What does this have to do with knowing your place?"

"Lady Hyuuga is obviously from the head branch of the family. That means even though I'm not officially a Hyuuga that I need to honor her as such," Mousse said, looking Hinata in the eyes.

"But you really don't," protested Hinata, "I don't like being elevated like that over my family. Your father was my mothers sister!"

"Father always told me about his family, and how proud he was that his sister married into the head family, because that meant that her curse seal was removed," he said in a wondering voice.

"Mother always told me about how happy she was that her brother got to escape," Hinata nodded, "She said that even though she loved my father, she recognized how unfair it was that she was no longer under the thumb of the curse seal while her brother, and father's brother still had it."

"What's the big deal about the curse seal?" Shikamaru asked.

"A curse seal means that the wearer is under the complete control of the person who put it there," Hinata explained, "Or in the case of the Hyuuga clan. The person related to them that doesn't have it. I could basically do anything I like with someone who has the seal."

"So, why didn't you use it on Neji?" Shikamaru asked.

Hinata's eyes widened at the implication that he was making, "That would be unfair," she said honestly, "That would be cheating in the worst possible way! It's not like any old cheating, that anyone could do. That's practically fair. It would be cheating in a way that no one else could do, then everyone would be even more angry with me, because I didn't earn my victory!" She finished her speech slightly out of breath with a sore throat.

"How would anyone know?"

"They would know," she muttered darkly, "But most of all, I would know. That's just not something that I could live with."

"Hmm," he responded. There was a tense silence. "Why don't you go back and get Mousse's clothes," he said finally, "you can catch up to us."

Hinata was grateful for the change of subject. There are just some things that she couldn't talk about, even if it was with her long lost cousin. She smiled and started making her way back to where she remembered the fight being.

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Mousse was very confused about what was going on. First, he meets family that he never even knew existed. Well, he knew that his father had a family before he had married his mother, and that there was a possibility that there was a cousin out there that he would never meet. It had never really bothered him until today, when he actually met a family member. Now, all of a sudden, he felt like there was something missing from his life.

His personal quandary aside, the second thing that was confusing him was the way Dog-Boy was acting. 'I suppose I should call him Kiba. After all he did lend me his clothes,' Mousse thought darkly. He acted as though Lady Hyuuga, 'No she wants me to call her Hinata,' was completely defenseless and naïve.

"I can't believe you would do something like that!" spat Kiba, "Who knows what could happen to her while I'm not there to protect her!"

"Hinata can take care of herself," this was the third time this morning that the two of them had had this conversation. Ponytail boy, also known as Shikamaru, was clearly annoyed with his friend.

"Oh yeah?" Kiba demanded, sounding just a little insane, "And what happens if an S-class ninja attacks her while she's away?"

'Why would they be worrying about ninjas?' Mousse asked himself. Most of the ninjas he had met were just delusional men wearing pajamas, except for Konatsu, and even he was pretty weird. 'What does S-class mean?' Mousse decided that he would just stay quiet and ask later, he didn't want to get his head bitten off.

"What would you do if you were there?" Shikamaru demanded. "I'll tell you what you would do. You would end up running, which is exactly what Hinata would end up doing, with or with out you."

"I wouldn't run! I'm not a coward like you!"

"Good," Shikamaru said glaring, "You could distract him by bleeding on him while Hinata escapes. Good thinking." Mousse was most impressed with his control. If anyone had said that to any of Mousse's friends, they would have a major fight on their hands.

"You're such a prick!" Kiba shouted, "Hinata could be hurt really badly right now! She could have broken bones or bleeding or even raped and you act like there's nothing wrong at all! You only care about yourself!"

"I'm sorry that I trust Hinata and her abilities," Shikamaru said mildly, "I'm sorry that I feel as though she's strong enough to handle something simple like retrieving clothes. I guess I really am a prick, because I know that Hinata is capable of doing anything she sets her mind to."

"Are you out of your fuckin' mind!?!" Kiba shouted, clearly enraged by the calmness of his traveling companion. "Hinata needs protection! She can't handle stuff on her own, she needs someone there to hold her hand or else she'll do something stupid!"

"Like what Kiba?" a quiet voice came from behind them. Mousse jumped slightly and whirled around. There, melting out from behind a tree stood Hinata. She was holding what looked like a bag full of something. "I'm sorry Mousse," Hinata said, ignoring her friend, "When I picked up your clothes, everything just kind of fell out. I gathered it all up, but it's not very well organized."

"Oh that's not a problem Miss… uh I mean Hinata," Mousse said quickly, he could feel the tension and he wanted to be as far away from the blow up as possible when it happened. "I can organize it myself as soon as I change." He beat a hasty retreat behind a tree and with the ease of long practice changed into his robes and put away all his things. He felt much better after getting back into his own clothing, wearing Kiba's clothes made him feel naked.

"Hinata I can explain!" Kiba was saying when Mousse returned. He had been reluctant to do so, because even from behind the safety of the tree, he could feel the tension between the two.

"Good," she said serenely, "I'm very glad that you can explain, but I'm not interested right now." 'Ouch,' Mousse thought in sympathy. He had recieved similar treatment from his love, Shampoo.

"But you gotta let me explain," Kiba whined, sounding more like a dog with every time he did so.

"No I don't."

"But…But…" 'Just like a puppy,' Mousse mused.

"You're my friend Kiba," she said with sudden venom, "Or at least I thought you were. Do you know how much it hurts me to have you doubting me?" Hinata sounded like she wanted to cry. Mousse was beginning to feel very uncomfortable witnessing this conversation.

"But…but…"

"I don't want to hear it right now. Lets just get to Honey country okay?" She turned around and started marching forcefully in the direction they were headed.

"S-sure," Kiba agreed, following the young girl.

Mousse and Shikamaru ended up brining up the rear. At first they watched the two silently, but when nothing happened, they began talking.

"Does this sort of thing happen often?" mousse asked quietly so as not to be overheard by the two combatants.

"I wouldn't know," Shikamaru shrugged, "We don't hang out that often."

"You don't hang out but you're still going on this trip together?"

"They're the only ones who wanted to go with me to Honey Country," again he shrugged. It was an annoying habit that he had.

'New tactic,' he thought, "Why are you three going to Honey Country?" Mousse wanted information about his traveling companions, but they were all tight lipped about what they were doing.

"There's a shougi tournament there. It's a really big deal apparently, and I wanted to give it a shot."

"Oh?" Mousse said, kind of getting bored, 'Shougi's so boring, why would you want to watch it for the hours that a tournament would take?' "What's the big deal about it?"

"It's the biggest shougi tournament around. People from all over the world will be there." Shikamaru sounded a little excited by the prospect.

"What do you get if you win?" Mousse asked, 'Maybe the prize would be more interesting then the competition.'

"Her," Shikamaru said as he pulled a flyer out of his pocket and handed it to Mousse. The flyer showed a picture of Akane Tendo wearing a sweater and drinking a soda. It was the same picture that Ryouga bought from Nabiki before they left for Jusenkyo to save Shampoo.

"I know this girl," Mousse said, staring at the picture. What was going on here?

"Really? Is that that Shampoo chick that you were talking about?" Shikamaru seemed to go back to being bored.

"No, this is Akane Tendo." 'What's Ranma thinking allowing her to be ther prize in something that he can't win?'


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry it took so long to update. I was lost on the road of life or some such thing. I'll try better next time, but no promises. Well, enjoy.

Hinata had finally gotten over the hurt of Kiba's words. She thought that once that happened, she would be able to forgive, but she found that she was angry with him now. This was an unusual occurrence for Hinata. In a sense of self preservation, her mind scrambled for times that she'd been angry before, but she couldn't think of any.

She felt a little helpless in the face of this unfamiliar emotion. She could feel her body screaming at her to do something, but she wasn't sure what. 'I wish Shino were here,' she thought desperately. She could tell Shino anything, and he would be able to help her through this. 'He could at least cause bodily harm to Kiba,' she thought darkly, then immediately felt guilty for her thoughts. She had never wished harm upon anyone, not even the enemies she had been forced to kill.

Her eyes widened and she looked around desperately for an anchor in the sea of anger swirling around within her. There was Kiba, looking sad, but she didn't think he'd be a good choice considering that he was the reason for this feeling. Then there was her new cousin. She immediately dismissed him because she didn't want to burden someone she had just met, even if they were family. Shikamaru had some potential, because he never seemed to get angry, and she had heard that he was a genius. But, she didn't know him very well and was worried that this would be stretching the boundaries of their relationship.

'You could always talk to Akamaru,' she thought. But more then likely anything she said to Akamaru would go strait to Kiba, who she wasn't talking to because she was mad at him. 'How does Sakura deal with all her anger?' Hinata questioned grumpily as she glared at the scenery in front of her.

"Hey Hinata?" the meek voice of Kiba came from behind. Hinata glared even harder at the scenery, but was listening. "Um, I'm sorry?"

"For what?" Hinata asked coldly. Kiba looked decidedly relieved about her response, possibly thinking that this meant he really had nothing to be sorry for. "Do you even know?" His face became twisted in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Do you even know why you're apologizing?" Hinata asked slowly, stopping to face her teammate. Everyone else stopped, and it was almost unnaturally quiet. There was still the sound of wild life around them, but Shikamaru and Mousse had stopped their conversation mid sentence.

"Not really. All I know is that you think it's my fault," Kiba shrugged, looked away and put his arms behind his head.

"That's because it _is_ your fault," Hinata ground out. Kiba looked at her with an eyebrow lifted, looking confused. Hinata huffed an exasperated breath at him and started walking.

"Come on Hinata," Kiba said as he chased after her, "You can't be mad at me forever!"

Hinata paused, "You're right Kiba," she said simply before continuing towards Honey Country. She might not be able to stay mad at him forever, but she would definitely stay mad at him for the time being.

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Shikamaru watched the exchange with interest. Again, he was completely confused by what was going on. In his experience when girls were angry, they either released it quickly then got over it, or they took it out on the person they're angry with in small doses until they're no longer angry, but doing it out of habit. Hinata didn't seem to be doing either of these.

"Why hasn't she beaten him senseless?" Mousse questioned, squinting blindly at the couple. Hinata was walking away from them at a rapid rate, indicating that she was still angry, but she wasn't doing anything that indicated that she was going to retaliate against him.

"From what I've heard, Hinata doesn't get angry. _Ever_," Shikamaru wasn't sure why he felt the need to emphasize the last word, but he did.

"So, she's passive aggressive," Mousse said knowledgeably. He nodded as though the answer were the most logical thing in the world.

"I don't think so," Shikamaru said doubtfully. "I've never heard anything about her being like that. She's calm and quiet and more prone to forgive and forget then get even."

"Weird," Mousse murmured, possibly more to himself then to Shikamaru.

"Hn," Shikamaru agreed, before they slipped into companionable silence. Hinata was far ahead of the group, but not so far ahead that they couldn't see her stop when she reached the gate of the capital city of Honey country, where the tournament was to take place. She didn't turn around as she waited for them to catch up.

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"There's no way that Hinata's sharing a bed with you!" Kiba shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Mousse.

Mousse was insulted. He had suggested that he and Hinata share a room because they were family, and because he wanted to get away from Shikamaru. It's not that Shikamaru was annoying or scary, he was just really really boring. Boredom is something that Mousse rarely if ever had to deal with, mostly because of where he lived, but also because he avoided it whenever possible.

There had only been one room available in the whole city for the team to rent. Luckily there were two beds in the room and they allowed pets, so Akamaru could stay with them. Hinata moved to the furthest bed and started making herself at home.

"Well, I doubt that she's going to share the bed with you," Mousse sneered. "Not after what you did this afternoon."

Kiba ignored this statement and started ranting about how Mousse was just trying to take advantage of Hinata, 'Even if we weren't cousins, Hinata doesn't even begin to compare to my love, Shampoo,' Mousse thought as he argued with Kiba about the sleeping arrangements.

Kiba took a threatening step towards him, so Mousse took one towards Kiba. They stared deeply into each others eyes, each trying to get the other to back down. Mousse was just about to suggest that they move the argument outside when he heard a throat clear. He and Kiba turned toward the source of the interruption and glared.

"There's only two spots available," Shikamaru said, nodding at the bed closest to the door.

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Akane woke up feeling weak, but unconcerned. Vaguely she noticed that she was cold, which added to the weakness began to concern her. Akane was sorely tempted to forget that she was cold and feeling weak, so that she could be unconcerned that she was cold and weak again.

She opened her eyes, then promptly closed them. Everything was swimming and blurry. The experience caused abrupt sobriety, making her realize that she was in much more trouble then she was used to.

The reason that she was cold was because she wasn't wearing clothing and she was in a dark room with what felt like concrete floors. She felt weak still, and every time she tried moving her limbs she felt like she was moving through quick sand. Every attempt made her feel drained and left her panting.

After one such attempt while she lay panting on the floor, three questions popped into her head. Where am I, why am I naked, and when is Ranma going to get here to rescue me? The third question angered her a little. 'I don't need Ranma to save me,' she thought as she gritted her teeth and took a thorough look at her surroundings.

The room she was in was dark, just as she remembered it. The longer she looked, the more details about the room she could make out. The room appeared empty, except for a table. There was a door on the far side of the room and a window near the ceiling. 'Once I get my strength back, I'll try the door. If that doesn't work I can push the table under the window and get out of here.'

Akane's head snapped up when she heard the door open. She regretted it immediately, because she became very dizzy. 'What knocked me out must not have worn off all the way,' she thought as a human figure materialized in the door way.

"Ah," a deep melodious female voice laughed, "I see that you're awake Miss Tendo." Akane could hear the sound of high heels echo through the room as the woman approached her. "Are you ready for your lessons?" Akane could do no more then shiver as the woman got closer.

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Ranma was sitting in the motel room that all the tournament contestants were assigned. He was trying to pay attention to the lecture his pops was giving him on how to play shougi, but his mind kept drifting back to how he got there.

FLASHBACK

When Akane was first kidnapped, he looked at all the places she was normally taken, like the local caves, abandoned shrines, and traveling carnivals. He found nothing. After hunting down all the traveling martial artists in the area, and of course fighting them for the information, he found that none of them had seen Akane either. Finally he went to his friends/enemies. His first stop was the Neko Haten and the Chinese Amazons.

He confronted Mousse first, because he was the first person Ranma encountered. "Have you seen Akane lately?"

"No, I haven't seen Akane Tendo," Mousse answered distractedly as served a customer tea.

"So you didn't kidnap her?"

"Not recently," Mousse replied, gliding through the crowded restaurant with a grace that was rarely seen during the fights he and Ranma share.

"Huh. Where's Shampoo?"

"You stay away from Shampoo!" Mousse yelled, lunging at Ranma in rage. A cascade of water landed on the boy, and he turned into a duck. He quacked angrily at Ranma, then left in search of hot water.

"Nihao Ranma," Shampoo said in her high pitched broken Japanese. She put down the empty bucket she was holding and flung her arms around his neck. "You take Shampoo on date?"

"Maybe later," Ranma said as usual, struggling for breath and a tactful way to extract himself from her arms. "Right now I'm looking for Akane"

"What you want with Kitchen Wrecker?" Shampoo pouted, turning away from him and walking to get another order for a waiting customer.

"She's missing. Have you seen her?"

"No."

"Huh," Ranma said, only partially believing her. "Where's the old ghoul?"

"Behind you Son in Law," a gravely voice said from behind him. He felt a shiver of fear run up and down his spine at the fact that she was still able to sneak up on him after everything he'd been through. "What brings you by?"

"I'm looking for Akane. Have you seen her?" Ranma turned around to look her in the eye when she answered.

"She hasn't been by for quite some time, and we have been very busy lately."

"Well, if you hear anything, let me know." With that, Ranma left the Neko Haten, feeling vaguely unsatisfied with the answers that he received. His next stop was the Kuno household.

Kodachi had tried to paralyze him and kiss him. When Akane's name was mentioned, she went on a rant about something called a harlot. Ranma wasn't really following what she said, because he was splashed with cold water and turned into a girl. About that time Kodachi started shrieking and attacking him.

Ranma ran into Tatewaki while trying to escape. He was squeezed uncomfortably, and Ranma quickly sent him airborne. "Coming here was a waste of time," Ranma muttered as he left, his breasts still aching from how hard Kuno had grabbed them. "These two are to stupid to pull off a kidnapping."

Ranma made is way to Ucchan's, even though he highly doubted that Ukyo would be behind any kidnapping attempts. He was pretty sure Akane and Ucchan were friends in fact.

"Hey Ranchan," he was greeted by Ukyo from behind the grill. "can I get you your usual?"

"Sure," Ranma said, sitting himself down in front of her. Sure he was on a mission, but a meal was a meal. 'Besides, Ukyo makes the best okinomiyaki in Japan.'

"So, what brings you by?" Ukyo asked as she passed him a glass of warm water before pouring the batter.

"I'm looking for Akane. Have you seen her?"

"Not today," Ukyo said, flipping the grilled delicacy. "Any particular reason?"

"She disappeared a couple nights ago. I was just hopin' that you might have seen her."

"Sorry. I can help you look after the shop closes," she offered, handing him his meal.

"Really? Thanks," Ranma said, inhaling the food.

"Konatsu is in the back room. He might have seen her more recently." Ranma nodded and made his way to the gender confused kunoichi.

"Hey Konatsu," he greeted casually.

"Hello Ranma sama," Konatsu replied formally.

"Have you seen Akane around?"

"Not since your wedding ceremony," Konatsu replied. "I want to apologize for my behavior at the event," he continued. "I truly wish you and Akane sama the best."

"Uh, thanks," Ranma replied uncertainly. "If you learn anything will you let me know?"

"Absolutely," Konatsu replied smiling gently.

'Now, to wait for Ryouga to show up,' Ranma thought as he left Ucchan's.

"Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!" Ryouga shouted as he came hurtling through the air at Ranma. Casually Ranma jumped into the air. Shortly after Ryouga put a crater in the sidewalk, Ranma landed on his head.

"Yo, Ryouga," Ranma greeted him cheerfully. "Have you seen Akane?"

"What?!?" Ryouga shouted. "I go away for a little while and you lose her?!?"

"She was kidnapped," Ranma explained.

"Kidnapped!" shrieked Ryouga. "I have to find her!" Ryouga left with Ranma still standing on his head. That had been this afternoon, it was now dinner time, and the table was unusually somber.

Kasumi's food, while still delicious, was missing something. Ranma noticed that this happens whenever Akane isn't home for dinner. 'Maybe Akane can't cook because she's too busy making food taste better by just being there,' he thought idly, then threw the idea out because it was ridiculous. Ranma played with the last of the food, waiting for a clue to show up.

It was then that Ranma noticed an arrow protruding from the table with a letter wrapped around it. Everyone at the table blinked in shock, then looked at Ranma, waiting for him to do something. Ranma shrugged and pulled the arrow out of the table.

"Oh dear," Kasumi said calmly. "There's a scratch on the table."

Ranma took the letter from around the arrow and opened it up. It was a flier for a shougi tournament. On the cover was Akane's face and naked shoulders. She was wearing a chocker that Ranma had never seen before.

"Akane's the prize for a shougi tournament," Ranma explained to the family. "It's in a place called the Honey Country. I've never heard of it, but I've got to get there to save her."

END FLASHBACK

Ranma shook his head and resumed his training. He had to think of it as training or else he would lose. 'Akane's my fiancee and I won't loose her to anyone.'


	6. Chapter 6

"While it's true that I lost to Shampoo the first few times I challenged her for marriage, I know that she and I will be together forever. Just as soon as I free her from her unwanted marriage to Saotome," Mousse explained for the third time. Shikamaru had finally grown tired of it. He'd put up with it all day and didn't really feel like dealing with the constant delusion of Mousse during dinner. Especially since all his ranting about "his love" was starting to draw the attention of the other diners in the restaurant.

"Unwanted by whom?" he asked sarcastically.

Mousse blinked at him from behind his glasses. "Why, by my love Shampoo of course."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "What makes you think that? All she's ever done to encourage your wooing is insult you and beat the pulp out of you."

"That's not true!" Mousse shouted, growing angry. "Shampoo has given me a place to live while I woo her in Nerima."

"And you work for her for less then minimum wage, and constantly get beat on whenever you try to express yourself. Heaven forbid if you're ever sick or voice a complaint," Shikamaru pointed out.

"What complaints could I possibly have?" Mousse gushed, "I live everyday with my love, Shampoo. Everyday I get to bask in her love for me..."

"What makes you think she loves you?" Shikamaru interrupted.

"We're meant to be," Mousse said stubbornly. Shikamaru recognized the look in his eyes, and realized that nothing he said would change Mousse's mind.

"Whatever," Shikamaru shrugged and turned his attention to Hinata and Kiba. Hinata looked like she wanted to say something, but there was something stopping her. Kiba wasn't making eye contact with anyone, and had his back turned to Hinata as he ate.

"I'm going to go find Shampoo!" Mousse announced as he finished his meal. Hinata nodded absently and Kiba glared at him.

"Take Akamaru with you," Shikamaru ordered. Kiba looked like he was going to argue, but Mousse beat him to it.

"I'm not a baby. I don't need to be babysat."

"Akamaru needs a walk. If you're going out anyway, why not take him?" Shikamaru asked reasonably. Before Kiba could interrupt again, Akamaru stood up and moved to the door, looking at Mousse pityingly. Shortly after that the two left.

The very first thing Shikamaru did after Mousse left was pull out his packet of cigarettes, move the ashtray on the table closer to him, and lit up. He ignored the disapproving look Kiba gave him, 'If they didn't want people smoking in here, they wouldn't put ash trays on the tables.' After a few drags he set the cigarette gently into the ashtray and made sure no one could over hear their conversation.

"Starting tomorrow, we have five days before the tournament starts. As the representative of Konoha, I have four days to register for the event. I want to locate and rescue Akane Tendo before then."

"I thought you of all people would want to have a slave," Kiba practically snarled, "You're lazy enough that the thought of having someone there to do all your chores must be pretty tempting."

"Women are troublesome. Why would I want to own one?" groused Shikamaru.

"The mission is to either rescue Akane or make Ranma win," Hinata stated seriously. "Shikamaru winning a slave would mean that we don't complete it properly."

Kiba thought about this. Shikamaru knew that an incomplete mission would mean no money, and Kiba needed the money since he moved out from his mother's home. "So, what's our first move oh fearless leader?" Kiba asked grudgingly.

"Starting tomorrow, you and Hinata will search for signs of Akane. Once we've located her, we'll devise a plan to rescue her."

"And what will you be doing while we work our asses off?" Kiba growled.

"I'll locate and monitor everyone in town that the Hokage warned us to look out for. I'll also train Ranma Saotome, as a back up plan." Hinata nodded. Kiba scowled.

"Why do you get the cushy job?" Kiba snarled. "I know how to play shougi. Why don't I train him?"

"I've seen you "play" shougi," Shikamaru muttered. "After three moves you either try cheating in the most obvious way, like shout 'Hey look over there!' and twist the board around to switch pieces, or you have a tantrum and storm off. Besides that, you are one of the best trackers I know. I can't have you waste our time and jeopardize the mission just because you want the "cushy" job."

Kiba pouted in the face of Shikamaru's logic. Shikamaru was beginning to suspect that Kiba was not happy with him, and not just because he was in charge of the mission. Shikamaru had worked with Kiba in the past, so he knew that Kiba didn't take kindly to being bossed around. What he hadn't expected was the outright disrespect that he was receiving from the dog-nin. 'What's up with him?' Shikamaru asked himself, glaring thoughtfully at Kiba.

"If that's all," Hinata said quietly, "I'm going to go to bed. I'll get started looking for Akane Tendo at first light."

"We'll join you in a little bit," Shikamaru told her. Hinata nodded, then left the restaurant.

Kiba looked as though he was ready to leave. "What is your problem?" Shikamaru asked quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Kiba snarled.

"You've been acting like a bitch all evening. What is your problem?" Shikamaru answered evenly.

"I don't have any problems," Kiba answered. "Maybe you're the one with a problem?" With that Kiba stormed out of the restaurant, leaving Shikamaru with the bill. Shikamaru picked up his cigarette and finished it before he payed the bill and trudged back to the hotel room.

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Hinata had just finished showering and changing into her sleeping clothes when she heard the door to the hotel room open. While she put toothpaste on her toothbrush, she activated her byakugan to see who entered the room. 'Good, Kiba's back,' she thought as she started cleaning her teeth, 'I can talk to him about what happened this afternoon.'

After finishing her nightly grooming, she joined Kiba in the main room.

"Kiba?" Hinata asked. Kiba nodded that he was paying attention. "Can we talk?"

"Sure Hinata," Kiba answered, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I wanted to talk about this afternoon," Hinata took a deep breath before she started. "It really hurt my feelings that you doubted my abilities. I'm much stronger then I was when we graduated from the academy, I worked very hard to get where I am today, and for you to just disregard all that work really hurt me."

"Oh Hinata," Kiba said moving so that he was sitting next to her. He put his arm around her in a semi hug, "I never meant for you to feel like that. I was just worried. One minute you're there, then the next thing I know, you're gone. I guess I over reacted."

"Thank you. But Kiba," Hinata protested, "I don't want you to worry about me. That's why I worked so hard. Besides, it's not just this afternoon. It's all the time. I feel like you don't trust me when you do or say things about how I can't protect myself against anyone."

"Huh?"

"You always go out of your way to protect me," Hinata stated. "That is not what team mates do. Team mates trust in the abilities of their team mates, and only offer back up. You always treat me like I'll shatter if anything happens to me. You're like a brother to me, but you need to stop treating me like a weakling and start treating me like an equal."

Kiba was silent for several minutes. "I can't promise not to worry about you Hinata," Kiba started slowly. "It's not that I don't trust your abilities, it's that I love you and want you to be safe," he muttered.

"I love you too Kiba," she said. Hinata hugged Kiba, and gave him a sisterly kiss on the cheek.

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Mousse was feeling a little disgruntled about the fact that he was being babysat by a giant, slobbery dog. 'Well, he's not that slobbery,' Mousse amended to himself. In fact Akamaru was a very tidy dog for his size.

Mousse squinted at a statue that suddenly appeared out of no where. "What an unusual subject for a statue," he commented to Akamaru. "I've never seen an elderly chimpanzee depicted so accurately."

Mousse clutched at his head due to the ringing pain in his head caused by the statue leaping into the air and smacking him in the head with a stick. He slid his glasses into position over his eyes.

"Ah, Elder Cologne," Mousse greeted her politely, "I'm so glad I found you. Where's Shampoo?"

"Shampoo is doing what she can to help Son-in-law," Cologne answered vaguely, "You are not to interfere."

"SAOTOME!" Mousse shouted at nothing in particular, "How dare you do this to Shampoo! I shall defeat you so that Shampoo will be free of you!"

Mousse was treated to another smack to the head. "What did I just tell you?" Cologne demanded, her eyes squinting dangerously.

Mousse attempted to glare back, but ended up trembling due to the awesome battle aura the Amazon elder was producing. "I understand Elder," Mousse ended up saying. 'I won't attack Saotome, but I will make sure that he gets Akane Tendo back. Once that happens Shampoo will see that Saotome doesn't love her and that I am the only one for her,' he thought to himself.

"Good," Cologne said. "We are running a stand before and during the tournament. Since you're here you might as well help out. You will return here at dawn."

"Yes Elder." With that Mousse bowed and made his way to the hotel room.

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Shikamaru stood outside the door to the hotel room looking for his key. He could hear what Kiba and Hinata were talking about, but didn't pay attention to it. He would need to remind them to soundproof the room, or talk more quietly. 'Maybe I should tell them that I heard everything. That'll teach 'em.'

With that thought in mind, he entered the room. Hinata and Kiba were sitting on the edge of Kiba and Mousse's bed. They had their arms wrapped around each other, and Hinata's lips were pressed firmly against Kiba's cheeks. Shikamaru noticed that Hinata was wearing less clothing then he'd ever seen her in, a light blue tank top that clung in all the right places and a matching pair of short shorts. 'Legs...' he thought distractedly as he watched Hinata's cheeks heat up cutely.

Shikamaru had the urge to yank Hinata away from Kiba. 'It would only end up embarrassing everyone,' he reminded himself. Hinata smiled at him in greeting as she detangled her limb's from Kiba's. 'Good.'

"I'm glad that we got to talk Kiba," Hinata said looking at Kiba. "I'll see you guys in the morning. Good night Kiba. Good night Shikamaru." Hinata bowed slightly, giving Shikamaru a tantalizing glimpse of her cleavage before turning around and climbing into the bed that they were to share.

"Good night Hinata," both boys muttered, neither one looking away from the other.

Shikamaru glared briefly at Kiba before going into the bathroom to get ready for sleep. He brushed his teeth, staring blankly at his reflection in the mirror, and wondered about his reaction to the sight of Hinata the way she was. He remembered her flushed face and slightly damp hair more then he remembered the outfit, even though the outfit was definitely memorable on her.

Shikamaru cursed his body for its reaction to the outfit. He was a healthy eighteen year old male, so was familiar with the way his body dealt with lust, but he normally didn't have an erection right before he climbed into bed with the woman who caused it. Shikamaru took deep breathes to calm himself down while he let down his hair and brushed it out. By the time he was ready for bed, and changed into his favorite pair of pajama bottoms, he had calmed down enough to feel comfortable going to sleep.

Shikamaru left the bathroom and saw that Mousse and Akamaru had returned. He nodded a greeting at Mousse before climbing into bed with the already sleeping Hinata. The sight of her comfortably curled up on her side, the strap of her shirt hanging off her shoulder, had Shikamaru blushing. Gingerly he climbed into bed, and turned so his back was to Hinata.

He watched quietly as Mousse and Kiba took care of their own nightly rituals, then climbed into their bed. Kiba lay on the side closest to Shikamaru and Hinata's bed and turned so he was facing Shikamaru. Kiba pointed towards his own eyes, then towards Shikamaru before closing his eyes and going to sleep. Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow at the sleeping form of Kiba, 'That's subtle.'

Purposefully Shikamaru turned his back to Kiba. After staring at the back of Hinata's head, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

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Hinata woke up feeling warmer then usual. It wasn't an uncomfortable warmth, just different then the way she normally woke up. Still half asleep, Hinata snuggled back into the warmth. The warmth made a murmuring noise from behind her, and seemed to tighten around her.

She stifled a gasp when she realized that the "warmth" surrounding her was actually Shikamaru. Turning a bright red, Hinata stiffened, then tried to extract herself without waking the softly snoring ninja. At first her actions only seemed to tighten his grip, causing Hinata to squeak quietly, but with a little patience Hinata was able to make her way to the edge of the bed.

Swiftly and silently Hinata got out of bed, and gathered her clothing for the day. Before heading into the bathroom to change, Hinata looked around the room. Kiba was flung across the bed, arms outstretched, snoring loudly. If it had been a stealth mission he would have been much quieter. Hinata couldn't see Akamaru from where she was standing, but she could hear his familiar dog snores coming from the space between the two beds in the room.

Mousse didn't seem to be in the room, but she could hear water running in the bathroom. Hinata sat on the edge of her bed and waited patiently for Mousse to finish with his morning grooming.

Blankets rustled as Shikamaru sat up in bed. Glancing back, she saw that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Hinata flushed at the naughty thoughts that popped into her head at the sight of his naked chest. At first glance she would almost him skinny, but after further study beneath her lashes, she could see the ropey muscles move under his skin as he covered his mouth to yawn. The movement caused the light to catch on something metallic on his chest.

"Morning," he muttered groggily. "What time is it?"

Hinata glanced at the clock which was actually closer to Shikamaru, then at the curtain covered window, "Just a little before dawn," she answered politely.

Mousse opened the door to the bathroom, and walked out of the room, glasses perched on the top of his head.

"Morning Mousse," Hinata greeted, "Where are you off to so early?"

Mousse turned so that he was facing the direction that Hinata's voice came from. "I found Elder Cologne last night. She's running a stand for the tournament and wanted me to work. Why are you awake so early?" he asked, "I thought you were on vacation?"

"I have a lot of sight seeing to do," Hinata answered. "I always wake up early, so I figured that I would start early. There are a few temples I want to see, and tomorrow I might go to the bee farms."

"Bee farms?"

"This is the Honey Country, named so because they have some of the best honey in the land. Of course there's going to be bee farms."

"Ah," Mousse said knowledgeably. "Well, I must be going. If I'm late Elder Cologne will be very angry and dock my wages."

"Oh," Hinata said. "Maybe I'll see you for lunch. Have a good day."

"Thank you and I hope you have one as well." Briefly Mousse bowed before he exited to go to work.

"Nice cover story," Shikamaru complimented her.

Hinata blushed a little at the praise before she stood up and went into the bathroom. She quickly got dressed and brushed her hair. After brushing the morning breath out of her mouth, she smiled at herself in the mirror. 'Today I will succeed,' she told herself. This was a ritual she had started shortly after the first chuunin exams. It was a little silly she knew, but it helped make her the person she was today.

Hinata exited the room to see Shikamaru with his back to her, pulling his pants up and over his firm, naked butt. Her face heated up, knees grew week, and spots danced in front of her eyes. Vaguely she heard a thump and felt a dull ache in her back before the world went black.

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Kiba woke to the sound of a gasp and a thud. His eyes snapped open, he sat up ramrod strait and found the source of his awakening. Kiba knew immediately what to do when he saw a half naked Shikamaru kneeling over a passed out Hinata.

Emitting a deep growl, he launched himself at Shikamaru's exposed back. Blinded by rage, he started punching whatever part of the shadow-nin's body that came into contact with his fists. He was too angry to speak coherently. All he knew was that Hinata was out of it and Shikamaru was to blame.

"Kiba."

'I knew I shouldn't have trusted him!'

"Kiba!"

'I warned him! I warned him and what does he do!?!'

"KIBA! Stop!"

Something tugged on his arm, trying to impede his movements. He brushed it aside and continued smashing the hell out of Shikamaru. There was a crash and a grunt in the background, but Kiba didn't pay attention to it.

"I said STOP!" was the last thing he heard before he felt light pokes up and down his back. Against his will his arms started slowing down. He was feeling tired and couldn't really remember why he was so angry about what he had just seen.

"H-Hinata," he croaked out, knowing that she was the cause of the forced tranquility. He was pushed aside gently, only to topple over because he lacked the energy to catch himself.

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Shikamaru heard a gasp faint gasp from behind him. Without bothering to fasten his pants he turned around just in time to see Hinata go from vertical to horizontal before his eyes. 'Huh?' he thought as he went over to check on her.

The next thing he knew, his world was full of pain. He had just enough time to turn around before he was slammed against the floor. The first punch slammed into his cheek, the second into a rib. The third punch and all the others that followed ended up crashing into his forearms as he barely managed to move them into a defensive position.

'What the hell?' was the only thing he could think. The best plan he could come up with at the moment was to wait for Kiba to calm down a little. He could take it, he was tougher then he looked, he just didn't really want to let the beating continue.

"Kiba," he heard Hinata say. "Kiba! KIBA! Stop!" Vaguely Shikamaru noted that this was the first time he'd ever heard Hinata yell. Briefly one of the rhythmic punches was delayed, then he heard a crash and Hinata grunt.

Kiba started grunting a little, and Shikamaru heard some quiet thuds. The punches slowed down, then eventually stopped. Shikamaru warily peaked out from behind his arms.

"H-Hinata," he heard Kiba croak, then the weight of the dog nin was removed from Shikamaru's body. Slowly Shikamaru lowered his arms and tried to sit up.

"Shit," he hissed out between his teeth. Hinata was by his side, pushing him back onto the floor gently.

"Don't move," she ordered as she ran her hands gently over his ribs. Her fingers were too clinical to turn him on too much and too firm to tickle. Unfortunately they weren't too gentle as to not find the tender spot on his ribs from where Kiba hit him.

At his inhaled hiss, Hinata looked up into his face and smiled at him. "It doesn't feel broken, but let me check," she said softly. The veins around her eyes puffed out in a way that Shikamaru found fascinating. It definitely wasn't pretty, but it wasn't ugly either. 'I guess it's just a distinctly Hyuuga look,' he thought fuzzily.

"How are you feeling?" she asked quietly.

"Like I got hit," Shikamaru answered honestly, "A lot." Hinata chuckled a little at his attempt at humor.

"Stay here," she ordered, then disappeared from his view. He tried to follow her movement, but it just caused his neck to hurt. With a defeated sigh he slumped back into the floor.

"Hey Hinata," Kiba whined, "What about me?"

"You can wait," Hinata said calmly as she returned with a small traveling pouch. She opened it up and took out some supplies. "Look at me," she ordered, and shined a light into his poor abused eyes. Shikamaru tried to wince away, but she gripped his jaw firmly and held his head in place. "Follow my finger," she ordered and waved a finger back and forth in front of his face.

"Can you sit up?" she asked. Before he could answer she reached out behind his shoulders, grabbed his wist, and started pulling him into the seated position. Once fully erect she maneuvered him so that he was leaning against the wall. "Nothing's broken, and you don't appear to have a head injury. Just sit there for a while. Once you feel well enough, let me know, we'll stand you up and you can take a quick shower before I give you some ointment for the bruises you're going to get."

"Thanks," he grunted. While he leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath, he watched Hinata tend to Kiba. There was no warmth to her movements. She was clearly angry again, although she didn't take that anger out on Kiba physically.

"What were you thinking Kiba?" she asked as she pressed into his back with the tips of her fingers.

"I don't know," grumped Kiba sullenly. Hinata didn't say anything. "I was just worried about you. Why'd you faint?"

"You don't need to worry about me," Hinata said, completely ignoring the question. "I don't need you to beat up anybody for me, let alone Shikamaru." Kiba looked like he was going to argue, so Shikamaru interrupted him. 'Whatever he's going to say is going to make the situation worse.'

"Hey Hinata?" Shikamaru called out. "I think I can stand now."

Hinata moved over to him, sliding his arm over her shoulder. Shikamaru inhaled deeply, catching her scent. It was clean, but a little flowery, and teasingly musky. He quickly exhaled so that he could inhale again and get more of that scent.

'She smells really nice,' he thought as they moved towards the bathroom. He noticed that her cheeks heated up quite becomingly, causing his body to react in a way that he hoped she didn't notice. That would just top off the day, and it had barely even started.

Once in the bathroom, Hinata removed herself from under his arms. It was a little disappointing for Shikamaru. Hinata hovered near him, making sure that he didn't fall over. It was clear that he wouldn't fall over, and in fact Shikamaru had walked a few steps toward the shower when he noticed that Hinata was still in the bathroom, staring at something below his waist. He looked down to see that his pants were sagging dangerously low.

He quirked an eyebrow and met Hinata's eyes, "Did you want to help me in the shower?" he asked, hooking a thumb into the already loose waist band of his pants. 'Where'd that come from?'

Hinata squeaked cutely and turned bright red. Then she turned around and left the room quickly, slamming the door behind her.


	7. Chapter 7

Akane was tired, hungry, thirsty, and naked. After she had woken up a collar had been placed around her neck. Everything had been explained to her then.

"You are to be the first place prize for a tournament. We are now going to teach you everything you need to know in order to best please your new master. If you do anything to displease us, you will be punished. Do you understand?" the woman explained.

Akane must not have answered quickly enough, because she felt a huge shock around her neck. When she came to, she was hanging suspended from the ceiling. She had been that way ever since, the shocks were still painful, but they weren't enough to cause her to black out again.

"Slave!" a voice snapped. Akane ignored it and chose to concentrate on her breathing. She was hanging with her arms were held above her head and behind her back. There was so much pressure on her lungs that she didn't bother speaking for fear of passing out. She'd been hanging like this since she had woken up. There was no way for her to tell how time passed.

There was a shock at her neck, coming from the chocker they had placed there before she was hung up. Akane prided herself on not making a sound, even though she had never felt pain like it before. "You will answer me slave," the voice menaced. Akane swallowed with difficulty and raised her head to meet the gaze of her tormentor.

Before her stood a woman with long blond hair, bangs cropped just above her eyes. She wore oval wire rimmed glasses over her deep blue eyes and a smirk on her lips. Decked out in a black suit, matching mini skit, and stilettos, she looked more like a naughty secretary then a slave trainer.

"What?" croaked Akane. She wanted to spit the words out, but she was too tired and her throat was too dry.

Another shock was Akane's reward. "You do not address your betters in such a tone." Akane remained silent, saving her strength for later. The woman suddenly laughed, "You still think you can escape, don't you?" she lightly tapped Akane's cheek. "It's so cute that you still think that there's hope. I told you before, escape is impossible."

Part of Akane's spirit froze at the words, the way it had every time she heard them. She knew she wasn't the strongest, but she should be able to escape. It was her duty as heir to the Tendo school of Indiscriminate Grappling. 'If it's the last thing I do, I will get out of here.'

"You have too much spirit to be a proper slave," the woman explained. "We will have to break it if you are to make your new master happy." The woman grinned at Akane before she pressed the button to activate Akane's collar.

"Once you accept your new position, this will stop. You can eat, you can sleep, you can go to the bathroom in a toilet," at these words, Akane could feel a small trickle of urine slide down her legs. She'd been holding it in as best she could, but 30 hours is a long time to hold that kind of thing in.

The woman followed the trickle with her gaze, then reached out and wiped it up with her finger before it reached Akane's knee. She held her finger up to Akane's face and rubbed gently against Akane's lips, "All you have to do, is accept."

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Ranma hopped from building to building taking his morning jog. It was a habit he had started when he began living with the Tendos, mostly because he wanted to get as much stability in his schedule as possible, but also because it was something he could do with Akane without getting married. Of course Akane didn't know they jogged together every morning. She rarely looked up while maneuvered through the streets of Nerima.

For most of his life, Ranma and his father were the only people he had ever met who used rooftops to get around. When he moved to Nerima he met a few people who could do it as well, but not many people every got that good at martial arts to do it consistently.

Which is why Ranma was really surprised to see three people come out of a hotel room, exchange some harsh looking words, and spring apart in three separate directions over the roofs of the city. One of them was coming directly towards him.

As the person came closer, Ranma noticed that it was a guy, wearing a black turtle neck and bulky vest with lots of pockets. His hair was pulled back into a spiky ponytail, and he was sporting the beginning of a black eye. Ranma stood on the roof, watching the guy approach him. He was prepared for a fight, but he really didn't want to get into one.

"Good morning," Ranma greeted the boy, who looked to be about his age once he got closer.

The guy stopped on the roof, "Morning."

"Where are you off to so early?" Ranma asked, not even bothering to be polite, he was really curious about this guy. 'He must be a pretty good at martial arts,' Ranma thought to himself, 'I'm better though.'

The guy blinked, then shrugged, "Breakfast."

"Mind if I join you?" Ranma asked, trying to conceal his annoyance at the coolness of the one word answers he was receiving. The guy shrugged, and leaped to the next building, Ranma followed in silence.

"Ranma Saotome! Prepare to die!" a familiar voice shouted from slightly above. Ranma lightly touched down on a roof, then nimbly dodged to the left. There was a heavy impact on the roof that left a dent. In the middle of the dent knelt Ryouga Hibiki, leaning heavily against his umbrella.

"Hey Ryouga," Ranma greeted casually, like it happened every day, which it did.

"Saotome, because of you I've seen hell," Ryouga growled as he lunged for Ranma again. Ranma dodged this attack and all the once that followed. While he did this he followed the guy in the ponytail to their breakfast. Once he stopped, Ranma tried to get Ryouga's attention.

"Hey, Bacon Breath," Ranma teased, "How about we take a break for some food?" Ryouga stopped his attacks and put his umbrella away. While he entered the restaurant he bumped his shoulder hard against Ranma's.

Ranma saw the boy he followed to the restaurant sit in a booth by the window facing the door. Ranma joined him, leaving enough room for Ryouga to join or not.

"So, by the way, I'm Ranma Saotome," he greeted, waving slightly, "and this is Ryouga Hibiki."

"I'm Shikamaru Nara," Shikamaru nodded, then turned his attention to the menu. Ranma followed his example.

"So you must be really good at martial arts," Ranma stated subtly.

"I guess," Shikamaru shrugged.

"What do you mean guess? Do you know how many people I know who can building hop?" Ranma scoffed. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at this.

"It's pretty common where I come from." A waitress appeared and took their orders for breakfast.

"No way!" Ranma nearly shouted in excitement. "Does that mean everyone does martial arts?"

"Nope," Shikamaru shrugged, "but the basics of chackra control is taught at the academy, so most people know how to get around like that."

"Chackra?" Ryouga finally spoke up.

"You know, the spiritual energy that flows through your body," Shikamaru explained slowly.

"Oh, you mean chi," Ranma said nodding knowledgeably.

"Same thing, different word," Shikamaru agreed.

"So your school teaches martial arts?" Ranma asked intrigued. His memories of school were fuzzy, mostly because he caught up on sleep during class, but he would have remembered if there were any cool classes like that available.

"You could say that."

"So, you wanna spar some time?" Ranma asked enthusiastically. He really liked making new friends, and anyone who practiced roof hopping was a friend of his. Or an enemy, but they were just as good as friends sometimes.

"Taijutsu is not really my strong point."

"Then what is?" Ranma asked confused.

"Strategy," smirked Shikamaru.

"Strategy? Like thinking about fights?" Ranma asked disappointed.

"Usually during a fight," Shikamaru answered, sounding a little defensive. "Mostly I play shougi when I'm not practicing. In fact, I've been chosen to represent my village in the tournament."

Ranma latched on to this information eagerly. 'So this is my competition,' he thought. "I play shougi a little," he said cautiously. 'Don't want him knowing that he's going to train his competition.' "How about after breakfast we play a few rounds so you can practice?"

"What the hell are you talking about Ranma?" Ryouga demanded. "You couldn't sit still if your life depended on it, and you hate shougi. You should really let me take your place in the tournament, I'll be sure to win Akane back."

"Ryouga," Ranma taunted, "You couldn't win a game of shougi if your life depended on it. All your pieces would get lost."

"Take that back!" Ryouga shouted.

"Make me Pork-Butt," Ranma laughed.

Before the taunting would lead to a fight, the waitress brought there food. Instinct took over for Ranma. After saying a quick blessing, he concentrated fully on the food, ready to defend it if necessary. Once he finished most of it he slowed down, savoring the last of the rice and tea as best he could.

Ranma looked up to see Shikamaru staring at him in mild amusement. When he noticed Ranma looking at him, he chuckled and explained, "That's the way Chouji eats sometimes."

"Who's Chouji?" Ranma asked. As far as he knew the only people who could eat faster then where that French family with the weird mouths. "He can't fit a whole watermelon in his mouth can he?"

"Not without using his family's jutsu," Shikamaru answered, "And even then what's the point? He would probably say that eating like that disrespects the food."

Ryouga snickered, "Only fatties talk like that."

"If I were you I would never let Chouji hear that word come out of your mouth," Shikamaru said, glaring at Ryouga. Ranma shivered from the cold of the look, even though he wasn't the one receiving it.

"So, Shikamaru, did you think about my offer?" Ranma asked hurridly, wanting to keep Ryouga from doing something stupid.

Shikamaru's gaze turned to Ranma, but somehow Ranma got the feeling that he was still glaring at Ryouga for insulting his friend. "Yeah, sure, it could be fun."

"Great!" Ranma cheered, mostly for his cleverness. 'I'm going to be trained in shougi by someone who actually knows what they're talking about.'

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Hinata made her quickly to the tallest building in town. From there she could do an initial scan of the town. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Shikamaru meet up with the target Ranma Saotome. 'It was quite convenient of him be right outside the room when we left,' she mused idly.

No one looked up as the kunoichi silently made her way over the rooftops of the city. Hinata knew this to be true, even though she never looked down to confirm it. She had always had the ability to not be noticed when she didn't want to be noticed. She had gotten top marks for stealth in the academy, which caused Sakura to almost have a stroke due to the shock of being beaten.

When Hinata reached her destination, she activated her byakugan. Everything went black and white with swirls of blue. She knew that she wouldn't be able to actually see Akane from where she was, but at least from here she would have a direction to work in.

Kiba was going to be doing the same thing with Akamaru. They probably wouldn't be able to get her scent in such a bustling city, but they would be able to smell anything suspicious. There targets for today were buildings that were sealed or places that smelled of slavery.

A quick scan of the town reveal four buildings that were sealed. No matter how much chackra Hinata pumped into her eyes she couldn't break the seal. With practice Hinata reached into her pouch, pulled out a map of the city that she had purchased before dinner last night, and marked on the map the whereabouts of the buildings that she saw. With that small chore down, she deactivated her byakugan and made her way to the farthest building from where she was.

'So far so good,' she hummed to herself, practically skipping to her first destination.

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Akamaru could tell that Kiba was not in a happy mood. Akamaru figured that Kiba's fist must hurt due to the beating he gave Shikamaru, his head must hurt because of the chackra blockage Hinata provided, and he might not be appreciateing the lecture Akamaru was giving him.

"I'm telling you that he deserved it," Kiba growled at the giant nin-dog. "He was standin' over Hinata with barely any clothes on!" Akamaru huffed in response. "Come on! She was passed out and Shikamaru was the cause. He probably tried to grope her or something," Kiba muttered darkly.

Akamaru shook his head slowly. "No way would Hinata faint just because," Kiba argued. "She only faints when someone does something. Like when Naruto gets too close." Akamaru barked quietly. "What do you mean Shikamaru didn't do anything? You didn't see what I saw!" Akamaru's bark was a little louder, "You did not just tell me that I was wrong. I know what I saw."

The argument was getting the two nowhere. Kiba was determined that Shikamaru was in the wrong, while Akamaru was convinced that Kiba had gone crazy. Akamaru knew that Kiba was protective of Hinata, everyone on the team was protective of her, but he felt that Kiba too possessive of her. Akamaru voiced his opinion to Kiba one last time.

"I'm not possessive," scoffed Kiba, "Hinata's like a sister to me. I just want to protect her from the perverts of the world."

Before Akamaru could point out that until this mission Kiba had never considered Shikamaru a pervert, he vaguely smelled cat plummeting towards him at a high rate of speed. Only years of training saved the dog from being squished by a delivery bike. As the bike hit the ground, too late to warn anyone below, a bell sounded off. Akamaru couldn't get a good look at the rider, he just noticed that the rider was female with long purple hair.

"Are you blind?" Kiba shouted after the bike, whose rider was pedaling quickly away from them. When the bicyclist was out of sight Kiba turned to Akamaru and muttered, "Crazy bitch. Couldn't drive if her life depended on it." Akamaru knew that Kiba only said that because the rider was out of ear shot. Due to matriarchal nature of the Inuzuka clan, Kiba had a healthy respect for women that bordered on terror.

Akamaru continued smelling around shortly after the incident. He was hoping to find any suspicious smells. Kiba had told him to sniff out the smells of slavery, which included, but were not limited to, sex, blood, urine, feces, metal, leather, dominance, and submission. For every place he smelled three or more of these scents, he was to mark the building so Kiba could compare them to the buildings Hinata found. So far he hadn't smelled more then one or two scents at a time.

Akamaru thought longingly of the lunch break he was going to get at the stall that Mousse is working at. Hopefully by then he'll have some information to share, and get some yummy food from the soft hearted Hinata.

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Ms. Friday was annoyed. In all her years as a trainer she had never run across someone as obstinate and stubborn as this girl was. If she had had more time she would have relished the challenge, but as it was she only had five days.

'Five days to train this… this…_girl_," she mentally spat, while her face remained composed. The first rule of being a trainer was to maintain control at all times. She was always cool and calm, never did she loose her composure.

They had finally let the girl down from where she hung. Any longer and she would have died. Any longer and Ms. Friday would have lost her commission. Very few lasted this long in the initial lessons. They normally broke long before the shock collar was ever used.

Although she loathed the concept, she was sure that she would have to use a jutsu. Through out her whole career, Ms. Friday had only had to use the jutsu two times. The first time had been an amazon warrior, who would have bitten her own tongue off before submitting. Ms. Friday had still been young and impatient. After the first suicide attempt she used the jutsu. Now she felt that she had been too hasty. The second had been a ninja from the village of sand. Ms. Friday always smiled when she remembered that boy. He had been so full of futile rage that she had laughed. Too bad he saw her loose her composure, he would have been a fun little project.

"Slave," she sang out as she stood. The girl didn't even look up at her or acknowledge her. Ms. Friday smiled to herself as pressed the button to activate the collar. The girl tensed up, but no sound came out. 'Such control,' Ms. Friday thought to herself. "You will look at me when I speak to you."

The girl brought her head up and glared feebly at her. "What?" she whispered harshly. Long before she had been let down the girl had lost her voice.

Another shock was in order. "Know your place." The girl didn't say anything, just kept looking at Ms. Friday. "Sit," she ordered simply, knowing that she would be obeyed one way or the other. When the girl didn't move at first, Ms. Friday was tempted to use the collar, but she knew that too much collar and the girl would stop responding. Instead she nodded at her assistant, who lifted the girl and positioned her. The girl's struggles were as weak as a new born kitten.

"Why do you fight?" she asked looking at the girl kindly. "Why do you fight your fate? You know there is no escape. No hope of rescue, yet you still fight. Wouldn't you like to rest? Let all your troubles go?" If this didn't break her, then nothing in the next couple of days would. Ms. Friday would need that precious time to train the girl in the art of pleasing a master.

The girl didn't respond. She looked strait ahead, almost through Ms. Friday. Finally the girl met her gaze. Instead of despair and the hope that Ms. Friday could make it all better, there was defiance. A fire burned behind the girl's eyes that had yet to be quenched. Given enough time it could be, but they didn't have that luxury.

"If you're going to be that way," Ms. Friday stated calmly, taking the girls chin and jerking it upward, "Then we'll just have to change your mind. There's too much to teach you before the tournament. I don't have time for your little games. Hold her," she ordered her assistant.

The assistant complied, keeping a firm hold on the girls head so she couldn't turn away. Ms. Friday nodded, then started doing the appropriate hand gestures. It was for the first half of a seal. All slaves received the second half, only a few ever needed to first half. This half of the seal would forcefully make the person compliant and just a little eager. Any order given in this state would be followed, unless it was to harm one's self or another. It was quite the useful seal, but the less a trainer used it, the greater their reputation. So far, Ms. Friday had the best reputation in Honey Country. She intended to keep in that way.

Once the hand gestures were finished, Ms. Friday whispered the word that would activate the jutsu. "Compliance," she ordered. When the jutsu hit the girl, she slumped forward, a small blue triangle with three diagonal lines on the left side appeared on her forehead. When the second jutsu was placed on the girl the triangle would turn into a diamond and three diagonal lines would be placed on the right side of it before it faded away.

"Slave," called to the girl, knowing that the jutsu had already taken affect. She nodded for her assistant to release the slave.

"Yes mistress?" the girl asked, her voice sounding just the same as it had when the girl fought, just lacking that bit of fire it had before. The girl was looking in her direction, but there was no direct eye contact. 'Good, she's showing a marked improvement,' Ms. Friday thought as she surveyed the girl.

"You shall address me as sensei," 'Can't have her getting in the habit of calling everyone master.' "Do you understand?"

"Yes sensei."

"You shall address all others as 'sir' or 'madam' unless otherwise directed by me or your master," Ms. Friday explained. "Do you understand?"

"Yes sensei."

"Do you have any questions?"

"Who is my master, sensei?" the girl asked, sounding a little distressed.

"You shall find out when the time is right. Until then you will do as I or my assistant says. Now attend, I have much to teach you."


	8. Chapter 8

Shikamaru was studying his opponent over the shougi board. It was very clear very quickly that he had no aptitude for the game. His attention shifted, he couldn't keep track of whose turn it was, and he often confused the movement of pieces.

"How did you get an invitation for this tournament?" Shikamaru asked, even though he knew the answer.

Ranma Saotome, his opponent, looked sheepishly down at the board before getting a crafty look on his face. "Maybe I'm only playing this badly to throw you off your game?" he asked in what he thought was a sly tone of voice. To Shikamaru it sounded a little whiny and forced.

"No one fakes being this bad," Shikamaru stated plainly. The depressed look that passed over Ranma's face almost made Shikamaru laugh, but he stopped himself. He really didn't feel like getting pummeled again today. "So, what's your story?"

There was silence for a while. "I have to win," Ranma answered quietly. There was no further explanation after that.

"You need a slave that badly?" Shikamaru asked, hoping to goad Ranma into telling him about the kidnapping.

"Akane's not a slave!" Ranma said harshly, not making eye contact with Shikamaru.

"Who's Akane?"

"...just a tomboy."

"Why is it so important to win a tomboy?"

"…"

"You know what, I don't care," Shikamaru said shrugging. "You have your reasons for entering a tournament that you're going to lose. Because at your level, the only way you'll make it past the first round is if your opponent is deaf, blind, and mute or doesn't exist."

"…"

"Do you want to learn?" Shikamaru ventured. Ranma looked up at him with hope. "I can't promise that you'll win, but it'll give you a fighting chance in the tournament."

Ranma nodded solemnly.

Shikamaru decided to start with the very basics to see what knowledge Ranma had of the game. He picked up a piece at random. "What is this piece called?"

"That's a lance," Ranma responded immediately.

"How does it move?"

"Um… forward?"

"How many spaces?"

"Two?"

"No. As many spaces as you like. Where does promotion take place?"

The lesson continued like that for the rest of the morning. By the time they took a lunch break Shikamaru was trying to decide whether to bash Ranma's head in with the shougi board or his own. 'This is going to be a long five days.'

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Hinata met up with the other two members of her team by some food carts. There was a ramen cart, with Mousse ladling some steamy broth into a bowl. A short woman with long silver hair was balancing on a gnarled looking staff while she hopped from stirred the contents of a pot. Hinata recognized her from the photos in Tsunade's office as Cologne.

Next to the ramen cart was an okonomiyaki cart. Two girls worked as a team to provide food to the throng of customers. A cute waitress with long black hair was moving through the customers, taking orders and delivering bowls with a grace that was rarely seen outside of the shinobi world. Hinata watched the girl closely because she looked really familiar. The other girl Hinata instantly recognized from her picture. She had wavy dark brown hair wearing a string of miniature spatulas across her chest. Ukyo Kuonji really looked like she knew what she was doing behind the grill.

"Hey Kiba," Hinata called out, keeping an eye on the waitress. "Does that girl look familiar to you?"

After some consideration Kiba answered, "A little… but I can't place where I've seen her before."

"She was in the chuunin exams," Shikamaru stated. "Her team went on to the second round, but didn't get past the Forest of Death. I remember because her teammates were the ugliest things I had ever seen."

"Oh yeah," Kiba said nodding.

"What's a ninja doing here?" Hinata asked herself quietly.

"I don't know, but we better keep an eye on her for the time being," Shikamaru answered.

Hinata barely managed to smother an eep. She thought she had been quiet, but apparently not quiet enough. Shikamaru chuckled at her reaction, sending a warmth to Hinata's cheeks that had nothing to do with embarrassment.

The three ninjas sat down at a table in between the two food stands. Kiba's eyes shifted back and forth eagerly, clearly more excited about the prospect of food then the prospect of a debriefing.

A bell cheerfully rang out from above. Hinata looked up and saw a long haired girl riding a bicycle hurtling down towards their table. Quickly everyone dove away from the table, barely avoiding the shrapnel flying from the demolished table.

"Nihao Great Grandmother," the girl called out cheerfully, only to be struck by the elderly woman balancing on her staff.

"You scared off the customers," the old woman snapped. "Why aren't you with Son-In-Law?"

"He send Shampoo away. Say he need to train for tournament. Say Shampoo too too distracting."

Cologne nodded sagely. "That Son-In-Law certainly is focused. Too bad it isn't on you." Shampoo nodded in disappointment.

"Hey!" Kiba shouted. "Who do you think you are riding your bike around like that?! You could have gotten somebody killed!" He marched angrily up to the girl who had almost flattened him. "This is the second time you've tried to kill me today."

"Shampoo never see you before, no know what you talking about," the girl declared emphatically.

"Bullshit. You better learn how to ride that bike or the next time you try a stunt like that I'm going to break it and you in half," Kiba growled, pointing at her as he backed away.

Once he returned to the group all three of them found a new table. "You are aware that you can't beat up a girl," Shikamaru stated blandly.

"That's Shampoo right? She's a fucking Amazon warrior! My mom would kill me if she found out that I didn't treat her the way I would a dude who was pulling that shit."

"Fuck," Shikamaru whispered softly, "My mom would kill me for even thinking of threatening her."

"Yeah... well my clans a matriarch. It's all about complete equality, even in battle. I was always taught that no matter who you're fighting you take them down and they should stay down. Do you know how much shit I got from Iruka because the girls complained that I was too rough during taijutsu training."

"I was rarely if ever awake during taijutsu training. But I do seem to remember a few times that I was woken up by some chick screeching every once in a while, until they just kept pairing you with guys."

"And then they started crying that I was too rough. It's weird that Iruka sensei ignored them but always yelled at me about being mean to girls."

"That's cause you can't beat up girls."

"Tch, whatever."

"So what did you guys find out?" Shikamaru asked as they found a new table.

"There are four warded buildings. I went by them and all four of them look like regular old warehouses. I marked them on the map, so Kiba could go check them out this afternoon," Hinata volunteered, handing Kiba her map. "There were no other suspicious building in that area."

"Good. Kiba?"

"Well, these are the building that smelled the most suspicious," he stated, handing Hinata a list of addresses. "I was hoping that you could check 'em out and see if the target's in one of them."

"Good," Shikamaru said, looking at the okonomiyaki stand with longing, "Well if you're ready to go..."

"Um, how did your day go?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Don't ask. Please don't ask," Shikamaru muttered, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head. "I would have an easier time teaching a chicken shougi then this guy. It's like his mind is so full with fighting that anything else won't fit," he ground out. "I tried comparing the game to a fight, with each piece being a different fighter, but he didn't get it. He just started talking about some of his more memorable fights. Then Shampoo shows up and chases him around. Demanding that he take her on a date and arguing that he doesn't need to study. It was like trying to teach a weird Naruto Sasuke hybrid. The attention span of a goldfish with the rabid fan girls waiting to ambush him at every turn. I'm considering letting Kiba take the cushy job tomorrow."

"Nah," Kiba scoffed. "If he's as bad as you say I'd just end up kicking his ass. Besides, if everything works out, you won't have to teach him anything tomorrow."

"How often do things ever work out right?" Shikamaru grumped. Hinata giggled at his expression. He was so cute when he pouted, but she could see how it would be annoying after a while. Shikamaru glared at her, so she decided that she was going to get lunch.

"What does everyone want to eat?" she asked as she stood up.

"Okonomiyaki," they both stated at the same time. Hinata nodded before going off to get the food.

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Ms. Friday watched the slave as she eagerly licked at the penis of her assistant. He knew that he wasn't allowed to ejaculate, that was the honor that the girls master was given, but he could give her practical advice for pleasing her master. Next would be training orally on the female body, just in case.

"Stop," she ordered, when her assistant looked like he had some advice to give. Immediately the slave stopped licking the shaft and assumed a position of rest. Kneeling with her knees apart, hand palm up on her thighs, and head slightly bowed. She lifted an eyebrow at her assistant to let him know that he could advise.

"The innocent licks are all right," he started. "She needs to work on work on her confidence though. Longer strokes with the tongue and a little firmer."

"You heard him," Ms. Friday snapped, watching as the girl started licking again. To Ms. Friday it looked as though the girl was following instructions well. She raised her eyebrow again and got a nod from her assistant. "Slave. You will put his penis in your mouth and perform oral sex."

The slave finished her last lick and smoothly slipped the head of her assistant's penis between her lips. The slaves head bobbed back and forth as the penis went deeper and deeper into her mouth.

Her assistant began to smile. Ms. Friday wasn't worried that he would ejaculate, because she had trained him very well to control himself, but she knew he was enjoying himself. Suddenly his eyes widened and he pushed the slave off of him. She immediately assumed the position.

"She used teeth," he hissed, covering his saliva covered penis with his hands protectively. "She tried to bite it off."

"Don't be ridiculous," she scoffed. "She's under the jutsu. She can't harm anyone."

"She left marks," he spat, displaying his penis to her. Indeed there were teeth marks near the base of his penis. Blood was beginning to bead in some of the deeper punctures.

"Hmm..." she stated, looking at the slave speculatively. The slave looked blank as she waited for new orders.

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Hinata made her way through the town to the buildings that Kiba had marked on the maps. A quick scan showed what she had already known, that none of the buildings Kiba found had a seal on them. Of course since voluntary slavery was legal in the Honey Country, any training facilities they found might not be warded, although she didn't think that that was the case in this instance.

The first building that she went to was a brothel that catered to the S and M crowd. Hinata could understand why Akamaru had chosen this place as a potential place for Akane to be held. After a cursory glance with her byakugan she noticed that most of the customers looked ecstatic, while those she assumed to be the employees had looks that ranged from bored to terrified. There was also a weak killing intent radiating from the building.

Hinata deactivated her byakugan and took a deep breath before she entered the building. The sounds of... things hitting flesh was the first thing she noticed. The groans and gasps came next. She watched in fascination as a girl about her own age walked around an elderly gentleman, trailing the fringes of the whip across his chest. She seemed to be taunting him, calling him names and insulting his manhood. With each hissed out insult his erection grew stronger.

"How may I help you?" a voice broke the spell the scene. Hinata spun around quickly, trying not to turn bright purple in embarrassment. Hinata assumed that the person who spoke was the naked girl wearing a collar attached to a leash, that was being held by a large bald man.

"I-I-I was hoping to speak with the manager of this establishment."

"Very well," she said, bowing before turning away. Hinata stared at her back, which was full of piercings that were tied together by a satin ribbon. It looked very uncomfortable.

"That's Amber," a woman purred into Hinata's ear. "Isn't her corseting fantastic?" Hinata nodded quietly, as though in a trance. "You can have her if you like. Although she will need a firm hand when it comes to handling her."

Hinata blinked several times and spluttered out her response. "O-Oh no... I-I'm not like that... I'm here for information." She spun to face a voluptuous woman in red.

"Oh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at Hinata. "What can I do for you?"

"I had some questions about how slavery works in the Honey Country. I was hoping that you could help me."

"It will cost you." Hinata silently slid her 10,000 yen, hoping that it would be enough for the information that she wanted. Silently the woman slid the money from the table and into her bodice with a smooth motion.

"Can you tell me the basics?"

"Anyone over the age of 16 can become a slave. At 18 they no longer need parental consent. Once all the legalities are taken care of they go through official training, because quality is important when choosing a slave. After training, there is an auction. Anyone is invited to the auction, as long as they can pay."

"What about cases like the tournament, where a slave is the prize?"

"Then they take all the slaves in training and decide who has the most potential. Then they go to special training, because prizes are the best advertising."

"What about the prize for the current tournament? Where did she come from?"

"Word is that she was bought from another country. Of course she would be going through her training right now. Can't have our reputation ruined due to shoddy merchandise."

"Who would get to train a prize like that?"

"...Well that would obviously go to the one with the best reputation as a trainer. Most trainers specialize in a certain field. I for instance specialize in subs and body mutilation." This was said with an expansive sweep of her arms, artfully displaying heavy rings and an intricate tattoo.

"Huh?" Hinata asked, fascinated by the sparkle when it caught the light. It was a fake, but it was very well done.

"You didn't think that all slaves were created equal did you? Or that each master wants the same thing in a new toy," the woman laughed. "Not only do I run a brothel, I also train slaves for auction. My employees are all free. Some of them are even my assistants."

"Ah," so this woman was the manager, "So who specializes in reluctant slaves?" Hinata asked, remembering that Akane's sisters stated that she wouldn't want to be a slave.

"I can't seem to recall..." the woman said, rubbing her finger together suggestively.

Another 10,000 yen was slid across the table. The money disappeared into her cleavage again. "Reluctant slaves are hard to come by. Usually the slaves that we use are volunteers. Every once and a while a powerful master finds someone they want who doesn't volunteer. There's still an auction if the slave has spunk, but if they are completely broken, it's a strait sale. There are very few trainers who deal with the reluctant. They walk the fine line of cowing a slave and breaking it. The best are known by days of the week. That's all that is known about them."

"Why is there nothing more known about them?"

"Because reluctant slaves are illegal. The trainers are infamous, but you can't make a living from inside a jail cell."

"So how do those slave get sold?" she asked.

"You would need to talk to a seller. But it's a trade secret, so I doubt you would get anything from them," the woman sounded amused. "At least not for this small of an amount. A Weekday Slave can go for several million yen a pop."

Hinata thanked her politely and left. She made her way to the second building, which was another brothel that catered to a crowd who liked something called "babysitting." When Hinata saw the diapers and bottles she turned around and left immediately. There were just some things even ninja training couldn't prepare you for.

The last three buildings on her list kind of blurred together. She couldn't sense any hidden rooms and everyone backed up the information of the first madam. By the time it came to meeting up with her team again Hinata was tired, and just a little horny. Her imagination was aflame with the scenes that she had witnessed throughout the afternoon.

She remembered that she was going to be sleeping with Shikamaru, and in her mind they would be alone in their room. His hard body pressing tightly against her soft curves. A hint of teeth against her the side of her neck, just under her ear. The shot of electricity down her spine almost caused her to whimper out loud.

Hinata really wished she was just about anywhere but in the middle of a busy street, going to meet her teammates. She took a quick glance at the sun and decided that if she hurried she would be able to make it to the room well before her teammates were to meet there. A nice steamy shower was just what the hormones ordered.

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Shikamaru staggered back to the room, so mentally exhausted that he could barely think straight. Ranma was driving him crazy, and Shampoo came back during the lessons. She tried feeding him something, but Shikamaru caught the faint scent of mind altering drug. When he called her on it she pouted and tried to force feed Ranma the food, which he objected to by running around the room and throwing the board, with the pieces on it up in the air as a distraction.

Eventually she left when Shikamaru shoved a bite of the food in her mouth. She stiffened up and her eyes went blank. "Go back to Nerima," he ordered, which he assumed she followed because she immediately left the room. Getting Ranma back on track took a while because Ranma was hungry and demanded a snack before they continued, then his dad tried to join in. It was a sad testament that even though Genma never won any games while cheating, Ranma stilled tried to copy him.

"Go away or I'll poison you," Shikamaru grumbled. At first Genma didn't believe him, but he was eventually convinced to leave when Shikamaru gave him a piece of the meal that was left over from Shampoo's visit.

"H-hey... how did you know where we came from?" Ranma questioned suspiciously as he picked up the fallen tiles.

"Hm?" Shikamaru asked, although he did know what he was talking about. 'Shit! I can't believe I made such an rookie mistake.' "I don't know, you must have told me," he shrugged casually.

Ranma just nodded and returned to concentrating on the game. It was a struggle, but by the time Shikamaru left for the meet with his teammates, he thought that Ranma was on par with a 3 year old player.

Shikamaru opened the door to his room and practically crashed into the bed. All he wanted to do was slam his head into the wall until he met with sweet oblivion. Instead he decided to take a shower. Somehow he didn't hear the sound of water as it slid down smooth skin and splashed against tile. When he walked into the bathroom it was filled with fragrant steam and the sound of soft moaning.

Shikamaru looked up to see the sight of a soapy naked Hinata gently pinching one of her nipples with her right hand. Her eyes were closed, her plump bottom lip caught between her teeth. Her left hand was sliding down her stomach, every once and a while her fingers clutched into her skin, leaving little pink marks where her nails dug in.

Shikamaru felt his cock harden as Hinata made a sound in the back of her throat. Her fingers brushed across the soft curls covering her pussy. They seemed to lightly tickle the curls before starting to stroke the skin. It was like Hinata was teasing them, trying to prolong the pleasure for as long as possible. Shikamaru moved closer to the shower, drawn in by a force that he didn't understand.

Quietly he stepped into the shower without bothering to take his clothes off. The water plastered his clothing to his skin, making the skin under the the wet cloth clammy when exposed to air. He didn't mind though, because Hinata's surprised chocking gasp of "Sh-shikamaru," had captured his attention. Without a word Shikamaru covered her hands with his and leaned forward so that his chest was pressed against her back. He pressed her hips against his and gently rubbed them together.

Hinata moaned at the contact and arched into his touch. Feeling bolder Shikamaru let his lips trail against her neck. He suckled lightly and grazed his teeth over the vein in her neck. His fingers moved slowly over her flesh. Gently his hand parted the lips of her sex and dipped into the moist heat. His fingers danced across her clit, causing her to rub her hips against his. Shikamaru bit back a groan at the friction caused. It felt so good. He started pressing back into her, hoping for more contact. Her fingers wriggled out from under his and reached out behind her. She moved her hips away from his, and he desperately followed, wanting to prolong the contact.

Hinata chuckled deep in her throat and pressed her hands against his hips. He held still as her fingers worked the fastening of his pants. She gently pulled the cloth away from his skin and pushed them down, freeing his cock from the wet confines. Her wet warm hands encircled him and gently but firmly started messaging.

The stimulation had Shikamaru clenching his jaw for control. He wanted to plunge into her then and there. He wanted nothing more then to take her, hard and fast, but he restrained himself because he wanted her to enjoy herself. Deftly his finger penetrated her, causing her to jolt. In a rhythm they found together they began to move. The last thing Shikamaru remembered was hearing Hinata cry out as she found relief into the palm of his hand.

Shikamaru's eyes snapped open with the sounds of Hinata's release echoed in his mind. He was feeling incredibly stiff and frustrated. This frustration had nothing to do with teaching Ranma and everything to do with the raging erection he had thanks to his little fantasy.

In the background the sound of water that he barely noticed running was turned off. Desperately he sat up, not wanting to be caught with a tent in his pants. The door to the bathroom opened and Hinata stepped out, hair damp, cheeks flushed. When she saw him she eeped softly and flushed deeply.

Shikamaru smiled at her and beat a hasty retreat into the bathroom. He started up the shower, cold, and removed his clothes. It wasn't the most comfortable thing he had ever experienced, but it was enough to do the job. Later he would relieve himself, but for now he was in a hurry.


	9. Chapter 9

Kiba walked into the hotel room, his nose telling him that something was going on. Hinata's hair was damp, her cheeks flushed, and she was zipping up her jacket. The sound of the shower in the back ground told him that she wasn't alone in the hotel room.

Kiba walked up to his freshly made bed and sat down, then closed his eyes so that he could concentrate better. He took a deep breath through his nose and smelled female arousal. It was faint, and mostly centered in the bathroom, but it was still there. There was also a spike of lust by the dresser. The other thing he smelled was male arousal. There was no smell of sex, but the fact that two healthy aroused people in the same room sent off warning signals in his head.

"Hey Hinata?" he asked, not sure if he really wanted to ask about what happened. When she looked over at him he decided that he had to do it. "What happened?"

Hinata blinked at him several times, then her face brightened up, "Oh, you mean this afternoon?" she asked, "Well I thought we would wait for the meeting before we talked about that. But if you really wanted to know..."

"No," Kiba interupted. "I wanted to know about what happened just now."

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

Before Kiba could explain what he was talking about Shikamaru stepped out of the bathroom, damp hair out of its ponytail without a shirt on. He glanced grumpily at the two of them before going to his drawer in the dresser and getting a clean shirt out.

Kiba glanced at Hinata's face, it was slightly flushed as she watched Shikamaru pull the shirt on over his head. Before Shikamaru turned around, Hinata faced forward and struggled to get her blush under control. Kiba had seen that reaction many times before, back when she had a crush on Naruto. Kiba glared at the lazy ninja, knowing instinctively that it was all his fault.

"What?" Shikamaru asked, catching Kiba's look.

Kiba sniffed derisivly. "Nothing."

Shikamaru lifted an eyebrow at this but decided not to comment. Instead he glanced at Hinata, whose face was still bright red. "Are you feeling alright Hinata? You're looking a little flushed," he asked the girl leaning in close. This caused Hinata to turn an even brighter red. Shikamaru pressed a hand against her forehead and looked thoughtful.

Hinata wrenched her head out from under his hand and spun away. "L-let's get down to business," she ordered, not quite making eye contact with anyone. "I went by the places that you wrote down. Each one was a brothel of some sort. But I got some information about the slave tread in general and reluctant slaves in particular..."

Kiba started zoning out a little during Hinata's lecture. All he could think about was the smell of arousal in the room before he arrived. There was a hint of frustration, which indicated that nothing had come from the arousal, but Kiba couldn't take that chance.

Hinata was pure. Not like any other girl he had ever met. The fact that she had been aroused was unnerving to him. Hinata was just not designed to be sexual to his way of thinking. She was like a little sister, who he had raised to be a nun. Hinata and sex had no place being in the same sentence. It was just... wrong.

Kiba must have made a noise because the next thing he knew, there was silence. The kind of silence that was very directed towards one person, and Kiba had the sneaking suspiscion it was directed at him. HE glanced up to see if he was right.

"Are you okay Kiba?" Hinata asked, leaning her face closer to his.

Kiba grinned cockily, "Of course. What could be the problem?"

"I don't really know," Hinata answered worriedly, "But you were growling."

"You must be hearing things Hinata," Kiba said overly loudly, while scratching the back of his head. "Now what was all that about reluctant slaves and our girl?"

"Prizes are trained by the best trainers," Hinata said slowly. "Reluctant slaves are trained by the days of the week, so the best way to find Akane would be to find the best day of the week."

"I've always liked Saturdays," Kiba offered.

"We don't really know which day is the best day," Hinata explained. "I haven't gotten a chance to talk with the sellers yet. I think that it might be a little expensive getting that information from them."

"Oh?"

"Well, they do handle millions of yen a day on business days. Weekday slaves, which is what they call reluctant slaves, go for that all by themselves. I doubt they would give up information that could get them arrested for something as small as a couple thousand yen," Shikamaru stated, huffing a little.

"So we just beat the answer out of them," Kiba shrugged.

"We can't do that," Shikamaru answered, "It would draw too much attention to us. Besides, I don't think the sellers would be able to help us find the girl, she's a prize. What did you find out Kiba?"

"Well, from the outside, the buildings that Hinata pointed, had the same kind of smells that the building I gave to Hinata had. I went into two of them, the other two seemed to be warehouses with some pretty heft security. There didn't appear to be any secret rooms or trap doors in the brothels I went into."

"So most likely she's in one of those two buildings. We just have four days to figure out which one she's in and get her out. No problem," Shikamaru said to himself. "Do either of you have any experience teaching?"

"I have some," Hinata volunteered. "Why?"

"I need you to take over teaching Ranma tomorrow while Kiba and I visit the buildings again. Do you know how to play shougi?"

"Yes, although not that often."

"We'll play a refresher game after dinner," Shikamaru said. Kiba glared, quite sure that Shikamaru was trying to hit on Hinata. Hinata nodded and smiled pleasantly at Shikamaru. Kiba barely suppressed the growl that rose in his throat.

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Mousse was tired. Shampoo hadn't shown up after she made a delivery, so Mousse had to do all of his work and hers. He was used to that sort of thing happening in Nerima, but the ramen stand was doing better business then the Nekohaten usually did. Mousse thought that the reason for this was a combination of the tourists and nobody being suspiscious of them poisoning their ramen. The Nekohaten had gotten quite the reputation back home.

He walked into the hotel room he was sharing with his long lost cousin and her friends after being told that there was no room for him with Cologne and Shampoo. He wasn't quite sure about her logic, because ducks don't take up that much space, but he really didn't feel like arguing with her. Everyone was waiting for him.

"Well, now that Mousse's here we can have dinner," Hinata said brightly, getting up from her spot on the bed.

"I guess I could cook something," Mousse sighed, he had really hoped that he could get a rest before he started work in the morning. "Just let me pick up something at the store first."

"What are you talking about man?" Kiba asked. "Why would we want to eat something your blind ass cooked?"

"I'll have you know I'm a good cook," Mousse practically shouted. He really didn't need any of Kiba's shit after the day he had just had.

"Actually Mousse, what I think Kiba is trying to say is that we didn't expect you to cook anything. We were just waiting for you so we could go to dinner," Hinata interupted, before the argument escalated any further.

"..." Mouse didn't say anything after that. 'I must really be out of it if I thought I could get any cooking done here. There's not even a microwave.' All Mousse really wanted to do was sleep, but he knew that if he didn't get any food in him he would regret it.

"So, where should we eat?" Shikamaru asked.

"There was a good smelling takoyaki stand," Kiba volunteered.

"I've been on my feet all day. Can't we go to a sit down restaurant?" Hinata asked.

"I would prefer to call it an early night," Mousse stated, "So that takoyaki stand sounds good to me."

"I agree with Hinata. A sit down restaurant would be great," Shikamaru sighed.

"You're such a lazy ass," Kiba snorted. Shikamaru shrugged as though he was used to hearing such comments.

"That's not a nice thing to say Kiba," Hinata protested.

"Well, it's true! He's the laziest guy I know!"

"Yeah yeah," Shikamaru said dismissively. "How about you and Mousse go for takoyaki and Hinata and I go to a sit down restaurant. That way we can practice some shougi without disturbing Mousse."

"You have a shougi board on you?" Hinata asked, pearing at the ponytailed boy.

"Nah, but I know a place we can go." Hinata smiled and nodded. She had the same look he had seen on Akane's face when Ranma had managed, despite himself, to do something sweet for her. 'It's odd. I've never seen that look on Shampoo's face. No matter how hard I try to put it there.'

"Stupid Nara," he heard Kiba mutter as they watched the pair leave. Mousse agreed with the sentiment, but probably not for the same reasons.

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Dinner was good, but unmemorable for Shikamaru. Mostly he was busy trying not to think about the noises Hinata would make during her orgasm. He imagined that she was a gasper. If he closed his eyes he could just see her face flushed, mouth open, chest heaving as each breathy moan escaped her trembling lips.

"Shikamaru?" Her voice came to him from far away.. He blinked, disolving the image of Hinata mid orgasm from his mind.

"Hmmm?" he questioned, very reluctant to make eye contact. 'I don't want her to use those all seeing Hyuuga eyes on me right now.'

"You looked like you were a million miles away. What were you thinking about?"

"Uh... you know...stuff..." he shrugged, trying to appear as though he hadn't just been thinking about giving her orgasms.

"Oh, okay," Hinata said, obviously worried about his behavior. "Are you ready to play?" Shikamaru pictured all the different games he would like to play with Hinata.

"Uh... yeah... Let's get going."

There was a surprising amount of people out. They tended to travel in groups of three or more, making the roads a little crowded. Several times Hinata rubbed up against him while trying to avoid collisions with their fellow pedestrians. Finally Shikmaru had had enough. He reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her against his side. Hinata glanced up at hims startled, then flushed and looked at the ground. For his part Shikamaru tried to ignore the over heated sensation her proximity was causing.

Shikamaru knocked harshly on the door when they reached their destination. There was some grumbling from the other side of the door before it was opened.

"I already told you Ucchan..." Ranma answered, wearing just a pair of pants with a towel around his neck. "Oh, hey man. What are you doing here?"

"We're here to train," Shikamaru said. "This is Hinata. She's going to be helping you train."

"O-okay," Ranma said, letting them into the room. He quickly pulled on a shirt and motioned them to a table where the shougi board was set up. Shikamaru noticed that there was the beginning of a game going. One of the sides was definitely in Ranma's style, but he didn't recognize the opposing side.

"Who were you playing with?"

"Ucchan said that she would help me practice... but she had to leave."

"Good," Shikamaru said. "I don't want you training with anyone except me and Hinata. They'll only try to confuse you."

"What are you talkin' about? Ucchan was just tryin' to help."

"By letting you win?" Shikamaru asked.

"Huh?"

"You were playing white right?" Ranma nodded, eyes wide. "What was your next move going to be?"

Ranma's brow furrowed as he studied the board. "Uh... I think it was Ucchan's turn..." Impatiently Shikamaru moved the a pawn. The only move that was really an option. Ranma's eyes widened and he smiled excitedly. He moved one of his knight and captured Shikamaru's king.

"Don't you think it's odd that you were able to capture her king without loosing any pieces or capturing any other pieces? That just doesn't happen, so either there is a player out there worse then you or she was letting you win."

"Why would she let me win? She knows how important winning this tournament is..."

"Her motives don't matter," Shikamaru stated as he set up the board for a new game. "All you need to do is learn how to play and the best people to do that are myself and Hinata."

"B-but Shikamaru, you don't know how well I play," Hinata protested softly.

"Doesn't matter. You're more patient then I am," he replied, not even looking at her. "First, we'll play a refresher game, then we'll show Ranma how a real game of shougi is played." he smirked at his opponent.

The game lasted longer then Shikamaru expected. Hinata was a much stronger player then she let on. Either that or he was distracted by the impulse to shove the board of the table, lay Hinata down and mount her.

When Shikamaru won the game he motioned for Hinata to put the board back together. Had it been Ino, or any other girl in Shikamaru's acquaintance, she would have pouted and protested while they set up the game. Instead Hinata just nodded and went about placing tiles on the board.

While she did that Shikamaru took out his pack of cigarettes and pulled one out. He stuck it between his lips, put his pack away and started patting his pockets for a light. He looked up questioningly when he stopped hearing the sound of tiles clicking into place. Hinata had the game set up, and a rather disapproving look on her face.

"I always smoke when I play shougi," he stated, trying not to sound defensive.

"But this isn't your room," Hinata argued quietly. "Ranma may not want to sleep in a room that reeks of smoke."

"Oh, I don't mind," Ranma stated. "The smoke will cover the smell of wet panda."

"Wet panda?" Hinata asked. Truth be told Shikamaru had smelled a musty smell.

"Ah...ha ha ha..." Ranma started laughing nervously, scratching at the back of his head "That's... that's just a saying where I come from..."

"Oh..." Hinata said, "What an odd saying. Are there lots of pandas where you come from?"

"Nah, just the one..." Ranma trailed off.

"Well, do you have a light?" Shikamaru asked, after giving up on finding his own.

"Nope."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in Hinata's direction, who raised one back at him. He wasn't sure what that meant. 'I need a girl to japanese dictionary,' he thought, before tucking the unlit cigarette behind his ear.

"Alright Ranma," he said, stretching a little, "Pay attention, this is how a game of shougi should go." Ranma sat at the middle of the board, trying to look like he was paying attention. About half way through the game he stopped trying to look like he was paying attention. By the time the game was done, Ranma was nodding off. Shikamaru poked Ranma so that he tipped over as a celebration of his victory.

Ranma flailed as he hit the floor then sprang back up to glare at Shikamaru. "What'd you do that for?"

"You were falling asleep," Shikamaru stated. "I told you to pay attention."

"But shougi's boring," Ranma whined.

"Get over it. You said that you need to win."

"I do have to win."

"Then start concentrating."

"I'm trying!"

"Try harder."

"I'm trying the hardest I can."

"No you're not-"

"This is getting us no where," Hinata interrupted. "We're going to leave now. Ranma you get plenty of sleep and I'll meet you tomorrow, at around 10."

Ranma nodded his understanding, suddenly looking serious. "I'll be ready." Hinata smiled at him and ushered Shikamaru out of the room. Shikamaru felt a little disgruntled at being herded the way he had been. What he really wanted to do was make Ranma pay attention and take the lessons seriously, but nothing seemed to get through to him.

Shikamaru knew that his feelings were a little disperportionate with the events, but at the moment he didn't really care. "Man, I need a cigarette," he groused. Patting his pockets again in the vain hope that he would find his lighter. Silently Hinata passed him a book of matches.

"You didn't say you had a light," Shikamaru accused.

"You didn't ask me."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he lit his cigarette and took a drag. The second the nicotine hit his lungs he felt himself relax. He exhaled away from Hinata, so she wouldn't be mad at him for breathing smoke on her. They walked back to their room in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

Kiba was waiting for them when they arrived. He glared silently at them, then motioned toward Mousse, who was snoring softly on the bed next to him. Shikamaru just nodded and shut the door softly.

Immediately Hinata went to her clothes to get ready for bed. Shikamaru groaned internally at the realization that he wasn't going to get any real relief before sleeping with her. 'Bad choice of words,' he thought, picturing what he would do with her if Kiba weren't glaring at him at that very moment.

'No sleep for the wicked,' he thought as he pictured pictured Hinata in various stages of undress.


	10. Chapter 10

Ranma was having trouble sleeping. He tried to bore himself to sleep by going over the pieces and movements of shougi. It didn't help. So now he was bored and having trouble sleeping.

It seemed to him that he was worried, but not about any one thing. First, Akane was somewhere out there, probably scared and alone, just waiting for him to rescue her. Ranma scoffed at that last thought. Akane never waited for anything. The fact that she hadn't saved herself yet was what was really worrying him. Akane was just about as proactive as you could get.

Second there was the fact that Ukyo was acting weird. Ever since Ranma showed her the flier with Akane on it, she had been acting all... girly. She twirled her hair and batted her lashes, and even laughed at his jokes, even the ones that weren't funny. She didn't do this with anyone else, just him, and it was beginning to bug him.

Finally there was that Shikamaru guy. He seemed okay, but he knew things about Ranma that he hadn't told him, like the fact that he lived in Nerima. Also, Shikamaru was going to play in the tournament. Why would he train his opponent?

And what was up with that Hinata chick? First some slick guy comes strolling in and takes over his training, then he quits and puts some chick in charge? 'With my luck she's yet another fiancé that Pops set me up with,' Ranma thought as he stared at the dark ceiling.

He wasn't saying that she wasn't pretty, but she was too quiet. She lacked fire or something like it. That and her eyes were freaky. He had never seen anyone with white eyes that could also see. They seemed to look through him, which he didn't like. It was just...creepy.

Ranma shook his head, trying to clear it of all thoughts. It only worked a little, instead his mind was filled with pictures of Akane. He wasn't really sure what would happen when he got her back, after all technically she would be his slave, not his fiancé. Sometimes he wanted her to be that way, just do as he says without arguing, but that wasn't often. He really liked her fire. He liked that she stood up for herself and others. Ranma definitely didn't want to lose that, but losing Akane would be worse.

"Where are you Akane?" he asked the ceiling as he punched his pillow and turned to his side. Through sheer force of will he finally fell into a fitful sleep.

His dreams were plagued by images of Akane screaming and pounding against a wall, trying to escape. Even though he could see her mouth moving and her her fists pounding, there was no sound. Not even when blood started dripping down her hands and onto her wrists. Ranma tried to get to her, tired to stem the tears leaking out of her eyes, but there was something keeping him in his place. She seemed to be beyond his help, and that was something Ranma couldn't stand.

"Akane!" he shouted into the silent space. He needed her to know that he would save her, That it wasn't too late... that he wasn't too late. "Akane! Don't give up! I'll save you!"

Akane stopped pounding on the wall, cocking her head. Her tear stained face moved, and for a second he could swear that she was looking directly at him. Her lips moved, but he couldn't hear what she said.

His eyes flashed open and he stared at the ceiling. "Damn," he whispered fiercely. He fought against the tears that threatened to course down his cheeks. "Damn," he repeated, just for good measure. 'Guess there's no sleeping for me tonight.'

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Hinata was having a surprisingly easy time falling asleep, staying asleep was the problem. Once she was changed and groomed for bed, she had emerged from the bathroom to feel an odd tightness in the room. She smiled at Shikamaru to let him know that it was free.

He gave her a tense look, then made his way into the empty room. Hinata was having a difficult time determining what the look meant. For a second she entertained fantasy that the look was of unfulfilled lust. It was kind of nice thinking that he was thinking about her that way. Especially considering some of the thoughts she had had about him that afternoon in the shower.

She felt her cheeks heat up as she climbed into bed. Briefly she debated posing provocatively, for when he returned from the bathroom, but the second her body touched the bed she realized what a long day she had had. Hinata scrambled under the covers, put her head down, and fell asleep.

Scenarios kept flashing in and out of her mind. Some were of her barging into the bathroom while Shikamaru tried to relieve himself of the lust she was causing him. Of course being the kind and caring person that she was, she would help him to relieve that tension. Possibly by kneeling before him placing his manhood between her lips. He would taste salty and maybe a little tart on her tongue, but she would continue her ministrations until...

There was a comforting weight on her body. Coving her in warmth as she moved slowly with the rhythm of his hips. Hinata was lost in the sensation of his hard length against her core. There was something keeping them separate. Something keeping her from reaching...

It was her own whimper of need that caused her eyes to snap open. She felt incredibly hot under the covers, and tried to relieve some of that heat by removing some covers. That's when she discovered that most of the heat was caused by the man who was wrapped around her, not the blankets.

His thigh was thrown over her legs, effectively pinning them to the mattress. His arms were wrapped around her torso and one of his hands was nestled in between her breasts. 'Who knew Shikamaru was so affectionate when he slept?' she asked herself as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. It wasn't that she didn't like being in his arms, but she was feeling so uncomfortably hot, what with her dreams and all the body heat.

Once she had cooled and calmed down, she tried to sleep again. It was surprisingly easy to sleep again.

The trip to the S&M brothel must have effected her more thoroughly then she thought, because the next scenario in her mind was of Shikamaru using his shadow bind technique on her. Using phantom hands to hold her in place while he teased her body mercilessly. It seemed that no matter how she begged he didn't listen. It was all becoming too much, she was going to...

There was a mouth moving restlessly against her own. Hinata definitely liked kissing, and this guy knew just how to do it. Teeth scraped down her neck pleasantly before biting gently on her collar bone. Hinata tried not to make a sound just in case it was another dream. Slowly but surely the mouth moved down her naked body, nipping, sucking, and licking all the way. By the time the mouth reached her hips it was too much for her. Teeth scraped gently against her hop bone, causing Hinata to gasp.

She stared at the ceiling, not happy that she had just had another set of erotic dreams, with no way of taking care of the throbbing they caused. It was still to early for a shower, which would wake everyone else up, and taking care of the problem with Shikamaru in the same bed was out of the question. Although it was tempting. Maybe she could wake him up and... 'No! Bad Hinata!'

Hinata glanced sideways towards her bed mate. She was mildly surprised to see that he wasn't sleeping like he had been last time, but staring at ceiling, blanket pooled around his waist, arms crossed behind his head.

Curious, Hinata turned her body towards him. He glanced at her, saw she was awake, and turned his body to face her. He raised an eyebrow at her, the exact same look he had had in her dream as he tortured her with his shadow bind. Hinata blushed and avoided his gaze. They didn't really know each other well enough for her to explain her reaction.

Shikamaru smirked at her and shook his head. Hinata glared playfully at him for his reaction, then smiled at him so he knew she was joking. There seemed to be nothing left to say, so she closed her eyes.

Something still felt unfinished, so she opened her eyes again. Shikamaru had returned to staring at the ceiling. She thought about their exchange and her dreams while she admired his profile. He must have sensed her looking at him because he turned to look at her again.

Before she could change her mind, she gently reached out a hand to caress his cheek. His eyes widened slightly, before returning to normal. Hinata smiled at him then leaned forward a little. He must have followed her lead because their lips met sweetly and innocently, at first.

Their kiss deepened, lips wrestling just for the fun of it. Soon, she felt his tongue gliding against her lips, seeking entrance. Immediately her lips parted and her tongue rushed forward to meet his. They twisted together sensually before retreating and tangling again. By the time they parted, Hinata was panting slightly. Shikamaru had a slightly glazed look in his eyes.

"Goodnight Shikamaru," Hinata whispered quietly into his ear. Then she pressed her lips hotly against his one more time before snuggling into her pillow and drifting into a happy but dreamless sleep.

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Kiba was sitting in a field watching Akamaru chase butterflies. Never catching them, just chasing them, because Shino would bitch if Akamaru if he actually caught one. He used to bitch that Akamaru chased them at all, but he got over it when he realized that Akamaru had a soft spot for the colorful insects.

From out in the distance he heard someone calling his name. He turned to see his teammates, Shino and Hinata waving at him. Eagerly he got up and ran towards them. Right before he reached them Shino started to leave.

Kiba called out to him, because he hadn't seen Shino in a while and wanted to talk, but Shino ignored him. Soon Shino's shape became fuzzy and he started fading into the background. 'He's gone,' Kiba thought as he stopped to stare at the space Shino used to occupy.

"Bye Shino," Hinata said cheerfully before turning in the opposite direction and walking away. She passed Kiba as she left, not even acknowledging him. When Kiba tried to get her attention by grabbing her arm, his hand passed through her.

Kiba stared at his hand, but it looked pretty solid to him, so he returned his gaze to Hinata. She was no longer there. Far away barks had him looking up and into the field. Akamaru sat there, looking at him expectantly. Kiba slowly started moving towards him. As he got closer, he noticed that Akamaru was fading away. He ran forward and tried to grab the last bit of Akamaru...

'They're gone...' Kiba thought brokenly, staring at the spot where Akamaru had sat. "Come back!" he ordered, wanting the joke to be over. They wouldn't really leave... would they? "Come BACK!" he shouted when he got no response. "Please?" had asked hopefully. The only response was wind blowing across the meadow.

Slowly Kiba's eyes opened, tears leaking out of the corners. Akamaru was already awake, quietly sitting up with his head next to Kiba's chest. Silently Kiba reached out and hugged the giant dog, needing the solidity he provided.

Kiba didn't sob into Akamaru's neck, even though he was very tempted to. Instead he breathed in deeply, trying to compose himself before his companions woke up. He glanced at the bed that Hinata was sleeping in. He couldn't see her, but he did see Shikamaru with his back to him.

A hand reached out from the bed and placed itself on the side of Shikamaru's face. Kiba's eyes widened as he realized that the had belong to Hinata. Shikamaru leaned his head forward, and Kiba could hear the unmistakable sounds of kissing.

'She's leaving me...' he thought is shock as he listened to the excited breathing of the couple on the other bed.

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Ms. Friday hadn't allowed the slave to sleep. She was working on the slaves bodily control. Sleep first, then hunger, and finally excrement. Some masters wanted to control all aspects of their slave, without any of the housebreaking involved, so as a precaution Ms. Friday trained her slaves to the best of their ability.

After the biting incident, Ms. Friday had watched the slave closely, but there had been no indication that the slave was fighting the jutsu since. Now the slave stared blankly at the floor in front of her. She hadn't been given any orders, so she knelt on the concrete floor, hands resting palm up on her knees.

Ms. Friday was quite pleased that she hadn't fallen asleep yet, or moved a muscle, even though the concrete embedded in her knees couldn't be comfortable. The slave had been awake since this morning, doing strenuous training. She knew that the slave was tired, but she stayed awake, because that was what she was told to do.

"Slave, rise," Ms. Friday ordered. When the girl followed the order, Ms. Friday smiled, even though she frowned shortly after that at the condition of her knees. 'Those will have to be taken care of before the auction,' she noted.

Small abrasions due to training would be healed the night before the tournament. She was to be unblemished when presented to her new master. After that, any marks on her skin were the responsibility of the master.

"Did you bite my assistant?" she asked, looking for deception on the slave's face. The girl nodded. She wasn't lying.

"Why?" The girls brow furrowed in confusion. There was a long silence as the girl thought. "Speak!" Ms. Friday snapped.

"During the instruction portion of the lesson, before I was to practice, you said that some men prefer the use of teeth, sensei," the slave answered honestly.

Ms. Friday glared at the girl, then pointed to the chains attached to the ceiling. "You are to be punished for excessive use of teeth. You are not to bite unless so ordered. Assume the position for the chains."

Obediently the slave went to the chains and raised her arms, back to the wall. Briskly Ms. Friday snapped the shackles into place around her wrists. "You will sleep now."

Instantly the slaves eyes shut and her breathing evened out. As best as Ms. Friday could tell, the slave was asleep. She nodded in satisfaction, then turned to leave the room. The room was completely silent except for the sounds of Ms. Fridays boot heels clicking on the pavement as she left the room.

For just a moment Ms. Friday paused at the door way, in the shadows so that the slave couldn't see her. She watched patiently for signs that the slave was faking her compliance, but found none. The slave didn't so much as twitch as she hung, asleep, from the shackles.

Ms. Friday twisted away silently, sure that all was well with the way things were going. In fact, it wasn't until she made her way into the room where her assistant sat at the control panel, watching the slave on a television screen, that there was even a hint of anything wrong.

"She's leaking," the assistant said when she opened the door.

"What?"

"There's a liquid hitting the floor. I can't tell the exact source of the leak, but the liquid is definitely coming from her," her assistant explained, pointing at the screen.

"Change cameras," Ms. Friday opened. "I want to find the source of the leak." If the slave drooled in her sleep she would need extra training.

The assistant pressed some buttons and the image on the screen changed angles. The slaves front appeared on the screen. Liquid dripping down from her bent head. There was no way to see the source of the leak from that angle.

Ms. Friday sighed deeply, then returned to the training room. She was tempted to wake the slave, but understood that if she were to do that, the leak would stop. Instead she gently tipped the slaves head up so that she could look at her face.

The good news was that the slave doesn't drool. The bad news is that she was somehow able to surpass the jutsu, which no one should be able to do at all. Coursing down the slaves cheeks were tears. 'How is this possible?'

She released the slaves head and returned to her assistant in the viewing room. He raised an eyebrow in question. She shook her head dismissively. She needed to keep this little bit of information to herself.

Tomorrow her assistant would conduct the lessons on grace to the slave, while keeping the lessons of control in effect. No food for the slave until she returned. Ms. Friday had some research to do.


	11. Chapter 11

Hinata was practically skipping as sailed through her morning grooming. There was nothing like a good nights sleep to help your outlook on life. Especially when it was caused by a healthy make-out session with her most recent crush.

It came as a bit of a shock to her that she had a crush on Shikamaru. Until now she had just assumed that he had been the object of her lust due to proximity. After all, they were sleeping in the same bed and he was the only viable option for a booty call at the moment. Kiba was like a brother to her, Mousse was her cousin, and Akamaru was thewrong species. Instead, she kind of wanted to make him her boyfriend. 'How do you do that?' she asked herself. Hinata had never initiated a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship before.

"I'll wait 'til after the mission to do anything about it," she said decisively as she smiled at her reflection is the mirror. Quickly she added, "Today I will succeed," before she opened the door to leave the bathroom.

On the other side of the door Shikamaru leaned heavily against the door frame. He looked very sleepy and just a little grouchy. To Hinata he looked completely adorable. She smiled tentatively at him, suddenly feeling very self conscious.

"Do you always talk to yourself in the morning?" he grumbled.

"N-not always," Hinata said, blushing and not making eye contact.. She really hoped that he hadn't been paying too much attention to what she had said. She made her leave the room, but he didn't move. She started to walk around him, but he shifted, getting in her way again.

"Are you always so cheerful in the morning?" he asked, taking a step forward. Hinata blushed even more as he came closer.

"Under the right circumstances," she answered breathlessly. Surreptitiously she pinched herself, hoping that it wasn't a dream.

"What circumstances would those be?" Shikamaru asked, hand reaching up to tangle a hand in her hair. 'Good, definately not a dream.'

Hinata stepped closer and reached out tentatively. "I think you know the answer to that question," she murmured as she stood on her tiptoes. She lightly touched her lips to his, before his morning breath assailed her nostrils.

She let herself fall back onto her heels and giggled up at him. He looked a little disappointed. "You should brush your teeth," Hinata chided gently as she dodged past him into the main room. She pulled the door shut behind her, inexplicably happy with herself and the world in general.

"Good morning Akamaru," she said cheerfully, scratching the large dog behind the ears. Akamaru seemed troubled. Instead of leaning into the scratching, like he usually did, he stayed perfectly still. Every once and a while his eyes would turn towards Kiba's figure, still laying in the bed.

"Is Kiba sulking about something?" she asked Akamaru, pausing in her scratching. Akamaru nodded his large head and whined softly.

"Don't worry. He'll be back to his cheerful self in no time," Hinata assured the giant dog. Kiba didn't normally sulk, but the times he did he usually got over it within twenty-four hours. After that he completely ignored the incident, much to the annoyance of his teammates. Akamaru seemed reassured by her words, and leaned heavily against her as she resumed her scratching.

"Don't bet on it," Kiba said gloomily from the bed.

Hinata sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over her teammate. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, moving so she could see his face.

"Go away," he muttered, moving so that his face was buried directly into his pillow.

"When you want to talk, you know where to find me," she said simply, before returning her attention back to Akamaru. She knew that Kiba wouldn't talk to her about what was bothering him, even if she were the problem. He always felt the need solve his problems by himself. She also knew that he would probably be out of his funk by the end of the day.

Shikamaru stepped out of the bathroom, and glanced their way. "Your turn Kiba," he said simply, before sitting on the bed he and Hinata shared. Hinata blushed slightly, remembering what had happened on that bed just a few hours ago.

Kiba grumbled under his breath as hefted himself up into a sitting position. Then he threw his legs over the side of the bed, and heaved himself into a standing position. He swayed for a second before he trudged into the bathroom.

"What was that all about?" Shikamaru asked, watching as Kiba shut the door to the bathroom.

"I don't know," Hinata answered honestly. "Sometimes he just gets like this. It usually blows over by the next day, and that's the last you'll know about it."

"So he sulks for a day, then he's all better?" Shikamaru asked, as though he didn't believe it.

"Pretty much." Hinata watched as Shikamaru thought about this some more, then just shook his head. There a tense silence as they waited for Kiba to finish in the bathroom. Hinata kind of wanted to make out a little more while they waited, but she also wanted things to remain just between the two of them for as long as possible. Something not possible with Akamaru acting as chaperon.

It wasn't until Kiba had come out of the bathroom and everyone had gone their seperate ways that Hinata began to worry. 'Does Shikamaru think I'm a slut?' she asked herself. 'Does what happened last night make me a slut?' She was so worried that she started moving faster and faster through the crowds of people. She ended up at Ranma's room a lot earlier then she told him to expect her.

Of course she didn't realize this until after she knocked on the door. There was some grumbling from inside. After some fumbling and a disturbing crash, the door opened to show a very groggy looking Ranma, wearing just his boxers.

It wasn't a bad sight for the young kunoichi. Ranma obviously worked out a lot, if the muscles he had were any indication. It was also clear that he was familiar with fighting for more then just a belt. There were little scars and bruises decorating his chest, arms, and legs. Most were old, but he had some unusual scarring around his hands and wrists.

"Hinata, right?" he asked, squinting at her. Hinata nodded. "Just give me a minute and I'll be ready," he told her, before shutting the door in her face. 'He probably didn't even notice that I was early for the lesson.'

True to his word Ranma opened the door 60 seconds later, fully dressed but still looking tired. Hinata decided to take pity on him. "I'm actually kind of early. Let's grab some breakfast before we start."

"Huh? But I need all the practice I can get," Ranma protested, even as his stomach protested loudly.

Hinata chuckled softly, "You wont learn anything if you're distracted. Besides, eating something might help you wake up. We can discuss how you learn over food."

"How I learn?" Ranma seemed completely confused. "I don't like school..."

"People learn things in different ways. Some people learn things just by listening. Others do better when they can picture it in their minds. I'll be able to teach you better if I know how you learn," Hinata explained simply. "Let's eat and talk it over."

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Shikamaru was a bit skepticle about Hinata's explanation for Kiba's personality change. Normally Kiba was a little gruff, but also pretty easy to get along with. Today he was being a total jerk. He snapped at Shikamaru when he tried to initiate conversation, and was unnecessarily sarcastic when he bothered to reply. Shikamaru didn't think that Kiba was sulking, mostly because of the hostility that Kiba directed towards him. If he were sulking, everyone would be effected, but Kiba didn't act that way around Hinata or Akamaru.

"Are you going to be like this all day?" Shikamaru asked as they monitored a building. He didn't bother looking at Kiba.

"Like what?" Kiba snapped, not looking at Shikamaru.

"I guess that answers my question."

The two lapsed back into sullen silence. Even though they weren't being the best of friends at the moment, Shikamaru knew that Kiba would remain a professional. As long as he remained important to the completion of the mission, Kiba would make sure he was alive. Shikamaru didn't feel that he had too much to worry about in that regard.

Shikamaru returned to staring at one of the suspicious buildings that Hinata and Kiba found yesterday. It was a concrete warehouse that appeared to deal in mattresses. It was odd that they would feel the need to use a seal in such a building. Hinata had said that she assumed that any captive people would be in the basement, because that's where the seal was placed. Kiba said that the smells coming out of that place were rather suspicious as well.

"Man this is boring," Kiba said, to no one in particular. Shikamaru grunted in acknowledgment. They had been there since early in the morning, before anyone else had arrived. They had seen the foreman unlock the building and all the workers enter one by one. They had seen the first deliveries being shipped out for day. They had learned more about the mattress industry in one day then they had ever wanted to in their life. Boring did not even begin to describe the day.

Shikamaru watched with interest as a woman came out of the building. She wore a simple suit with a skirt and heels. Her blond hair was twisted up off her neck and her glasses were perched on the end of her nose. She wouldn't have stood out at all, if it weren't for the fact that Shikamaru hadn't seen her enter the building. He was about to see if Kiba had seen the woman, but Kiba was already gone. When Shikamaru looked back, Kiba was already tailing her, waiting for the right time to see what she smelled like. 'Maybe today wouldn't be so boring after all,' Shikamaru thought as he settled back to continue watching the building.

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Shampoo was standing at the outskirts of Nerima when she returned to her senses. The last thing she remembered was visiting Airen and trying to provide him with a snack. The fact that the snack contained some of the hypnosis mushrooms was only an added bonus. She was going to make Airen spend time with her, not play that boring shougi game.

She smiled to herself as she thought of the date she had had planned for them. They would take a long walk and see the sights, he would say nice things to her, then they would end the day with the perfect kiss just as the sun set.

Her plans had gone awry when that stranger told Airen she was trying to poison him. Airen started running away, turning down her food. Of course she tried to convince him that he really did want the food she provided, but that stranger had gotten in the way. He looked like a delinquent, with his earrings and his hair in a ponytail. One moment she was admiring the way Airen ran, the next the delinquent was in front of her, feeding her a piece of food.

After that, she was here. 'Those mushrooms must have been stronger then I thought,' she mused as she headed towards the Nekohaten. She needed to rest a little and eat before heading back to Honey Country. It would do her no good to try to make the return trip in her current condition. If the way her feet felt were any indication, she had walked the whole time from when she had eaten the food until now.

She also noticed that she had been able to stay dry and out of fights while she was out of it. Her clothes were still on her meaning that she hadn't changed into a cat somewhere on the way, and she didn't have any new bruises anywhere on her body. So far, only her pride had been injured during her latest attempt at courting.

"When Shampoo come back, Airen will be too too happy to see her," she giggled to herself. She let herself into her restaurant via an open window on the second floor. A normal person would have a difficult time seeing the window let alone going through it, but Shampoo knew she was anything but normal. With an ease brought on by years of warrior training, she scampered up the wall and through the window.

When she landed she frowned, because the frame of the window had felt smaller around her hips than last time. For a moment she worried that Airen would find her less desirable, but then she remembered that they were in love. She loved Airen so much that he couldn't help but love her. After all she was the best warrior, second only to Airen, the best cook, second only to Nice Girl, and the most beautiful, second to none.

Before Shampoo turned in for some much needed rest, she checked the phone for any messages customers might have left. There was one order, then another call complaining that their order hadn't been delivered from the same person. Shampoo shrugged and decided that Japanese people didn't know how to speak Japanese. Her message had been very clear. "No ramen."

She made a note to let Great Grandmother know that there was someone with Airen who could detect potions. She was a little worried about what might happen to the boy, but he had ruined her date, so he deserved whatever he got. Not like Dr. Tofu, who had to leave because he knew too much about potions and pressure points. With Dr. Tofu around how was Shampoo supposed to court her husband properly?

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Genma came to as a panda. He shrugged philosophically and tried to remember what he had been doing for the last several hours. There was a blank.

Having hours missing from his evening was not an unusual occurance. What was was not having the memory of going drinking before that time. What he remembered was helping out with the boys training. He was bound and determined to show that upstart that the boy brought with him how real shougi was played. Before Genma could win the game with his patented 100en move, the upstart had threatened him. Well Genma never backed down from a challenge, he was about to teach the upstart who he was messing with, when Genma ended up here...

Genma paused to consider his options. He could march right back to Honey country to show that deliquent who was in charge, or he could seek a secure location while he strategized. Of course, being the practical man that he was, he realized that he would spend his time better if he were to multi task. His stomach growled, as though it were a sign. Firm in his resolve he ambled of towards his home, full well knowing that Kasumi would have breakfast well underway by the time he got there.

He wasn't too concerned about how he would explain his presense to those left at the Tendo household. Kasumi was too nice say anything about it and as long as there was no profit for Nabiki, she wouldn't care one way or the other. Tendo himself would be easy to pacify. All he would need to do was tell him that he had returned to plan the wedding. Then when he returned the schools would be joined. He was a busy man, he didn't have the time show young punks the error of their ways.

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Akane was still sleeping. She knew this, because she wasn't worried about pleasing "sensei." What she was worried about was how to escape. And even more importantly then that, how she was going to deal with the fact that she wasn't going to want to escape once she was ordered to wake up.

She knew that it was a spell that was doing this to her. She wasn't sure what kind of a spell it was, but she recognized a spell when it was used on her. It was very frustrating to not have control of her body, or even her thoughts. It was almost like the time Shampoo fed her some hypnosis mushrooms which made her hug any boy but Ranma when a gong rang, except during that time, she was still herself. Now, when she was awake, she was someone else. Someone who wanted to please "sensei" and get a master.

If only she weren't in these damn chains. Normally when she was sleeping and something was wrong, she could rely on her Sleep Fu to help her out, but because of the chains, no matter what she tried she wouldn't be able to escape. Sleep Fu was not designed for delicate manipulations, like lock picking. It really grated her nerves, but it looked like she was going to have to "behave" today. 'I can't afford to be punished like this again,' she plotted.

She hoped Ranma was okay. The dream she had had of him worried her a little. While she wanted out of her current situation, she didn't want him doing something rash. If her dream was any indication, he wouldn't stop at rash if it meant saving her, which worried her. 'I'll have to be quick tonight...'

"Wake-up Slave," a man said, wiping all thoughts of escape from Akane's mind. She smiled hopefully into the face of Senesi's assistant. 'I have to prove that I'm a good slave. Then soon I will have a master.'


	12. For the Ranma uninformed

Hi all. I probably should have put something like this in the first chapter or so, but I didn't. This is just a bit of information about Ranma ½ for those who need to know. Feel free to skip over this.

Ranma ½ is an awesome manga and acceptable anime. It follows the life of teenage martial artist Ranma Saotome from his arrival at the Tendo dojo in Nerima Tokyo. Ranma is an active 16 year old boy who is also the heir to the Saotome School of Indiscriminate Grappling, aka Anything Goes. He has a curse that changes him into a girl when he is hit by cold water. Hot water changes him back into a boy. In the anime his hair is black while her hair is red. There is no difference in the manga. Ranma also has two official fiances, one wife, and two crazed stalkers.

Fiance number one is Akane Tendo. She is the youngest daughter of Soun Tendo. She practices the Tendo School of Indiscriminate Grappling. Her engagement to Ranma is arranged by their fathers in an attempt to join the schools. They have been engaged since birth, even though they didn't find out until Ranma came to the Tendo dojo. Akane has no other fiances, but she does share a crazed stalker with Ranma and has a secret admirer. Akane does not have a curse.

Fiance number two is Ukyo Kuonji. She dresses like a boy and practices okonomiyaki martial arts. She was engaged to Ranma when they were six. Shortly after that Ranma's father took her dowry and ran. Ukyo decided to "lose her femininity" and hunt Ranma down to get her vengence. When she found him, she fell in love and the engagement was back on. Now she runs her own okonomiyaki restaurant. Ukyo has a waitress/kunoichi working for her who is in love with her.

Ranma's wife is Shampoo. She is a Chinese Amazon. In her village if female warrior is defeated by a girl, that warrior must hunt down and kill that girl. If a female warrior is defeated by a boy, the warrior and the boy are married. Initially Shampoo was defeated by girl Ranma, so she hunted her down to kill. Later she returned to China and got a curse. She turns into a cat when hit by cold water. Now she is trying to convince Ranma to leave Japan and return with her to her village. Shampoo has one admirer.

Crazed stalker number one is Tatewaki Kuno. He is in love with Akane and girl Ranma. Even though Ranma has changed forms in his arms, Kuno is convinced that girl Ranma and boy Ranma are not the same person. He also hates boy Ranma. He practices Kendo and recites bad poetry. No body loves him.

Crazed stalker number two is Kodachi Kuno. She is in love with boy Ranma, and is Tatwaki's sister. She hates girl Ranma, and like her brother does not realize that boy Ranma and girl Ranma are the same person. She practices martial arts rhythmic gymnastics, uses potions and poisons, and wears a leotard everywhere she goes. No body loves her either.

Ryouga Hibiki is Akane's secret admirer. He is incredibly shy, has the worst sense of direction ever, and hates Ranma. Ryouga also has a curse. He turns into Akane's pet pig when hit by cold water. Akane is not aware that her pet is actually a person. Ryouga is engaged to a girl who raises sumo pigs named Akari after he defeated the grand champion sumo pig.

Mousse is a Chinese Amazon. He practices the Hidden Weapons Technique. He is blind without his glasses, which he doesn't like to wear, and madly in love with Shampoo, who can't stand him. Mousse turns into a duck.

Konatsu is a boy raised as a kunoichi. He is madly in love with Ukyo, who he works for, and dresses like a woman, because he always thought he was one. He was raised by his evil step mother and her two daughters. All three of them are nightmare inducing ugly, but are not aware of it.

Genma Saotome is Ranma's father. He turns into a panda. He is a good martial artist but a huge idiot.

Soun Tendo is Akane's father. He is emotionally unstable. His martial arts abilities is unknown. His wife died before the series started and he is still in love with her.

Kasumi Tendo is Akane's oldest sister. She takes care of the cooking and the cleaning. She is nice to the point of oblivion.

Nabiki Tendo is the middle child. She likes money and scheming. Her specialties are blackmailing and selling photos of her sister and girl Ranma.

Cologne is Shampoo's great grandmother. She is very wise and a strong martial artist. She is also very short and mostly balances on a stick, which she uses to hit everybody. She is helping Shampoo win her man.

Dr. Tofu is a family doctor to the Tendos. He specializes in accupuncture and shiatsu. He is familiar with the uses of potions and magic. He also goes a little crazy in the presence of Kasumi. He disappears from the manga shortly after Cologne arrives.

Happosai is Soun's and Genma's master. He is a huge pervert, enjoys stealing underwear/groping girls, and is a very powerful martial artist. He spends most of his time trying to convince Ranma to change into a girl and model underwear of him.

I believe that that's everything. If there are any questions after this about character histories, just let me know. Ranma ½ is written by Takahashi Rumiko, the same author as Inuyasha and Urusei Yatsura.


	13. Chapter 12

Kiba was very excited. The chase was on. Their prey, an attractive blond with an elusive scent. She must have been late for a meeting because her pace was quick. She was practically trotting down the street, which was a treat for Kiba to watch. Her mile high stiletto heals didn't even wobble on the uneven ground.

Kiba glanced at Akamaru. He and Akamaru had to work extra hard on their stealth,what with Akamaru being the size of a large pony and all. Even back home,where ninja dogs were rather common, he would get stares. They stuck to the shadows on the roofs, making sure that they were out of the sun when they had to jump over a street or alley. Kiba didn't want strange shadows where there shouldn't be any to give them away.

"Here's the plan," Kiba told Akamaru, "You get a whiff of her, then report back to Shikamaru. I'll follow her and find out where she's going." Kiba knew that there was a flaw to his plan, after all, Shikamaru didn't speak dog. But Kiba couldn't leave Akamaru to do the trailing. For one thing, Akamaru didn't always have the best attention span. If he got distracted it would first take forever to find him, then it would take even longer to find the woman again. The other reason was that Shikamaru was getting on his nerves.

Akamaru just woofed quietly and waited for Kiba to change his appearance. 'Wouldn't want her to recognize Akamaru later on,' Kiba thought as he sent chackra to the dog. With a puff smoke, Shino appeared before Kiba.

Normally Kiba would use himself as Akamaru's henge, but he decided that it would be best if it was someone that the woman wouldn't recognize at all. It was always risky to approach a suspect, so Kiba decided to be cautious. Besides, he didn't want Shikamaru bitching about how he should have been more careful.

Kiba watched as Akamaru brushed by the woman, then turned down an alley. The woman looked a little annoyed, but she didn't seem to take anymore notice of him. Kiba watched the woman with one eye while he waited for Akamaru to emerge from the alley.

He almost missed Akamaru bounding over rooftops, un-henged, toward the direction Shikamaru was. It wasn't until after the dog disappeared that Kiba wondered what the woman smelled like. If he was wasting his time, he was going to be pissed. But at least it got him away from Shikamaru for a while.

Kiba made sure that he watched the blond from a distance. Didn't want to spook her too soon. He knew that she was on edge about something. Not only was she trotting down the street, she appeared to be both aware and preoccupied. Something back at the factory was bugging her, and Kiba doubted that it had anything to do with the latest shipment of queen size.

The woman meandered through town in a way that to the casual observer would appear whimsical. Kiba recognized it for what it was. An attempt at losing anyone who was following her. He felt that this was just standard actions for her though and not because she knew that he was there. There were no dashes into heavily crowded areas or slipping into stores and coming out in a disguise. She just moved about in a deliberately aimless way.

Kiba would have given up long ago if it weren't for the fact that he would have to return to Shikamaru if he did. Staking out the mattress warehouse was just barely a step up from watching paint dry on the fun-o-meter. At least this way he could say he was being productive, even if it lead to nothing.

The woman made her way to the slave district, but not the part that most people went to. This part was seedier but more expensive. There was a hushed extravagance to the area which didn't cover up the smell of anger, resentment, and satisfaction. The main area of the slave district smelled of lust and anxiety, but then all the slaves knew what they were getting into in that area. If Kiba were to guess, he would say that this was where a majority of the reluctant slaves were sold.

The woman made her way into a nondescript building. Kiba didn't risk going inside. This area would be much harder to blend in with. Most likely there were only a few people who even knew about it,so anyone new would stick out like a sore thumb. Instead he looked around for a place that he could wait without being noticed. At least now he had a reason for avoiding the stake out with Shikamaru. Unless Kiba missed his guess, the leggy blond was definitely connected to their mission.

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If Ranma had had his suspicions of Hinata before,they were doubled now that she was in front of him. They were wasting time eating breakfast, instead of training, and worst of all she was trying to get to know him better. 'Shit. She really is another fiancé,' Ranma thought, because only girls who were set up to marry him wanted to get to know him. All the others just ignored him.

If he hadn't seen for a fact that she can play shougi, then he would probably have bailed as soon as she knocked on the door this morning. Instead his mind was scrambling for ways to get her to teach him how to play shougi without ending up at the alter or promising a date. So far he was drawing a blank.

"What do you like to do Ranma?" she asked quietly as she looked at the menu.

"I don't know. Training I guess," Ranma asked cautiously.

"What kind of training?"

"Martial arts. I practice my family's style."

"I do too."

"You practice Anything Goes?" he asked incredulously. No one his age, except for Akane, practiced Anything Goes.

"No. I practice my family's style," she sounded a bit amused. Ranma wasn't sure why. "Besides practicing what do you like to do?"

"I don't know... Sports I guess," Ranma shrugged. He never really thought about it. Martial arts were his life. Everything else came second, mostly.

"So, you like to be active," Hinata stated. Ranma nodded, not sure if she really wanted a reply or not. She looked a little out of it now that he had volunteered that information.

"You okay?" he asked as she stared at nothing. Vaguely she nodded, her eyes unfocused. Ranma left it at that. If something was wrong he would know in a second.

"I have a few ideas to help with your shougi training," she said eventually, refocusing on him. Then she asked a question that confused Ranma.

"Who can't?" Ranma answered, hoping for some enlightenment. Hinata just smiled serenely and pressed the button to summon the waitstaff.

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Ukyo hummed quietly to herself as she flipped her okonomiyaki over. She wasn't upset, but she could have been better. Ranma said that he would talk to her this morning, but he hadn't shown up yet, and there was only a half an hour to opening.

It was possible that he had gotten in a fight or something,but that seemed unlikely. The two people he fought with the most weren't here. Ryouga got lost yesterday and Akane was the one who had been kidnapped. There was always the possibility that someone would try to eliminate tournament players in order to win, but that was unlikely because Ranma was not a threat to anyone. She would make sure of that.

Ukyo knew that as long as Akane was around the chaos that surrounds Ranma would never end. If Akane wasn't around Ranma could focus his attention on Ukyo. Of course Ukyo also knew that Ranma wasn't going to quit as long as there was a chance that Akane could be rescued. This tournament was just what Ukyo had been looking for. Ranma gets a chance to save her and once it's over, there's no do over.

She hadn't been the one to arrange this, but secretly she was glad. With a little more of her coaching Ranma would think he was the best shougi player in the world. He would go to the tournament knowing this, then when he was defeated, he would know that he did his best. 'All in all it's a win/win situation.'

Right as these thoughts entered her mind, she felt guilty. Akane was someone that she would consider a friend, if they weren't both engaged to the same man. Akane was funny, honest, insecure, had a killer right hook, and couldn't cook to save her life. She was there when Ukyo needed help, even if that was probably only because she was tagging along with Ranma.

Ukyo shook her head to dislodge the guilt. It only worked partially. She had to remind herself that there was nothing she could do, even if she didn't "help"Ranma with his training. Either way Akane was going to be out of the picture. At least this way Ranma would be able to know that he did his best, instead of feeling like a loser.

Ukyo looked at the okonomiyaki that she had just grilled to perfection, and made a decision. It would be a matter of seconds to make another one. Everything was prepped for the lunch rush, and it was only a five minute walk to where Ranma was staying. She could have a quick visit and arrange for a date, aka more training, after dinner. All under the guise of providing lunch for her fiancé It was a brilliant plan. She would have an excuse to see him, a future date, and yet another chance to prove that she was the superior fiancé

Ukyo's humming was a little more chipper than it was earlier, it seemed that scheming agreed with her.

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Once Kiba left, Shikamaru had decided that he would enjoy his peace and quiet. He loved nothing better then to sit back quietly and enjoy the changing patterns of clouds, why couldn't this stake out be the same way. If he looked closely he could probably see a pattern in the activities of the people on the street. Maybe if he treated this stake out like he did cloud watching, he would have a better idea of how to proceed.

When Akamaru returned, without Kiba, he tried to give Shikamaru a message. But Shikamaru didn't really have the patients or the desire to play charades. It wasn't as though the information would have had an immediate impact. Even if the information was that their objective was in the factory somewhere, they would still have much planning to do, and they would have to wait until Hinata was done teaching for the day. Wouldn't want to give their cover away.

Shikamaru sighed and enjoyed the experience of having a quiet moment in the middle of a mission. Akamaru appeared to be quiet without Kiba there. He also appeared to be comatose. The ninja dog had fallen asleep shortly after returning.

Shikamaru went over the information about the sealed room, in his head. Hinata said that the seal was fairly large. It was large enough to hold either one large room or two or more smaller rooms. Kiba had reported that the building smelled of fresh fear and anger. There was also some older smells of blood and sexual discharge. Shikamaru was willing to believe that the mattress industry was more exciting then he thought, but not quite that exciting.

True, the scents that Kiba reported could be explained by a fight, an accident, and/or a fling in the warehouse, but that didn't explain the need for a strong seal in the basement. Seals, especially one strong enough to black the byakugan, were designed to hide things. The use of one in this location sent red flags off in Shikamaru's mind.

He really hoped that this was the building though. This one felt right. It had a seal large enough to hold multiple people and suspicious smells. The other places had the smells and the seal, but they weren't that suspicious considering that the other locations were all brothels. This would be a great place to hold reluctant slaves, because the likely hood of being discovered was lowered and the quality of the goods was almost guaranteed.

Sure, they had the advantage when it came to looking for people. Hinata and Kiba were both part of a tracking team, so their abilities would naturally be above those of the average thief/ private investigator. If it weren't for the combination of sight and smell, then they would probably still be looking for their objective. Instead they had it narrowed down to four possible locations, with plenty of time to explore their options before the tournament.

He did admit that he was a little worried about leaving Hinata to teach Ranma. Yesterday had been one of the most frustrating days of his life. He had to deal with a crazed fan girl, a clueless father, and an idiot. The thing that made the situation worse was that Shikamaru could tell that Ranma was a chaos magnet. Just because Shikamaru had taken care of the first two obstacles, did not mean that Hinata would have an easy time teaching that idiot how to play shougi

'She'll probably return with a headache,' Shikamaru mused, remembering his homecoming last evening. 'She'll be too tired and crabby to want to do anything.' This last thought was a little depressing. After last night and a little of this morning, Shikamaru had been looking forward to getting to know Hinata better.

Hormonally one of the first things he wanted to know about her was whether she was a gasper of a moaner. He was pretty sure that she was a gasper, but being the man of science, he needed to conduct many experiments before he could safely change his hypothesis into a theory. Shikamaru was rather looking forward to such experiments.

He would probably start with a small experiment. Brushing her hair aside and running his mouth along the nape of her neck. His hypothesis was that she would flush and gasp. He also imagined that she would stammer a little if she attempted to speak. If he was correct, then Shikamaru wanted to her her voice hitch right in the middle of saying his name. 'Shik-ah-maru,' he could hear her say in his thoughts.

Next he would add his hands into the equation. His hands would slide up her arms slowly, the move to the zipper of her jacket and slowly tug it down. Once the jacket was open he would slide his hands back up her torso, lightly grazing her breasts, before gently pushing the jacket off of her shoulder.

Once the jacket was nothing more the a crumpled heap of cloth on the floor, he would gently turn her around so they were facing each other, and touch his lips to hers. Her lips would be really soft, and taste faintly of mint because of the lip balm she used. Slowly but surely he could coax her mouth open, so that he could flick his tongue in.

Shikamaru almost groaned aloud at the memory of Hinata's taste. It was all hot and sweet. Innocent and carnal. Exotic and familiar. Man he could kiss her for hours, just trying to figure out what the taste was.

Of course none of his dreams could come true if the Killjoy Squad appeared. Having Kiba glaring at you while you were trying to get to know a girl could destroy just about anyone's mood. Add Mousse's ridiculous over protectiveness and you could guarantee an evening that was fun for the whole family, instead of two healthy consenting adults fun.

Shikamaru knew that they thought he only wanted Hinata for her body, but that wasn't all. She was sweet, patient, and could play shougi. Shikamaru couldn't wait to get home so he could play shougi with her for fun.

'Naked shougi might be a challenge,' Shikamaru thought, remembering the way her breasts looked, idly wondering how they tasted, 'Or better yet strip shougi.'

Shikamaru sighed and tried to re-focus on the building in front of him. It was a lot more difficult then it had been when all Shikamaru could think about was how boring the stake out was. Now he had the tantalizing images of Hinata in various stages of undress trying to distract him.

"This had better be worth it," Shikamaru muttered to the sleeping dog, whose only reaction was a slight ear twitch.

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Shampoo woke up refreshed but sore. She hadn't done so much walking in one day in a while. Probably the last time was when she was hunting down Ranma. After that she had used mass transportation, or just taken her time traveling any long distance. 'Mustn't let Great Grandmother about this,' she ordered herself, dreading the kind of training she would receive if that were to happen.

With a cautious stretch, Shampoo made her way down to the kitchen, listened to some more phone messages from irritated customers, then looked for something to eat. Her search proved fruitless, as she thought it would. What she and Great Grandmother hadn't taken with them to Honey Country, Mousse either ate or took with him. She also knew that she had no money, because that went with them as well.

Shampoo considered turning into a cat and hunting up a mouse to eat. Although the thought was a little nauseating, because the mouse would be raw, she had found that raw mouse was rather tasty to her cat form. Instead she decided to save her energy and go to the one place that there was always food available, even to enemies.

Once she filled her stomach and got any new information, she would make her way back to Honey Country as fast as possible. She didn't want Airen to worry about her.

With a plan firmly in place she made her way to the Tendo household. Nice girl would have something ready for all takers, and Shampoo could guarantee that it would make the walk from Honey Country and back almost worthwhile. Any information about Airen's progress would definitely finish the job.

When she reached the Tendo dojo, there was no sign of life. Shampoo checked all the windows to see if there was any movement inside, but saw nothing. Shampoo knew that this was odd, because this was the time of day that at least one person, if not all people, should be home.

With no one there, Shampoo had a new decision to make. Break in and get something to eat, or turn into a cat and hunt. The hunting appealed to Shampoo. She liked the hunt, proving her dominance over her prey. However, she didn't know where she could get access to hot water if she changed into a cat. With the Tendo family missing, there was no one left in Nerima who she could trust with the job. Most other people would either assume she was a cat, and not put her near hot water, or they would try to take advantage of the situation. After all she did appear naked when she changed back. If Happosai were to find her he would not waste the opportunity.

Armed with this knowledge, Shampoo leaped up to window of the room Airen shared with his father, and let herself in. She had done this many times in her long courtship of Airen. She quietly moved her way through the house, not because she feared detection, but because it never hurt to practice stealth. She needed to practice her skills even though she was a married woman, otherwise Airen would lose interest in her.

After a slightly successful foraging expadition through the neatly organized cupboards of the Tendo kitchen, Shampoo started cooking. It was a simple meal of canned soup and crackers, but it filled Shampoo's empty stomach, and gave her a boost of energy that her sleep hadn't achieved.

Shampoo cleaned her dishes and put them away, leaving no trace of herself in the kitchen. Then she grabbed another can of soup and left the house the same way she entered it. Instead of going down however, she decided that it would be faster to get to Honey Country if she took the roofs. After all, she was in a hurry. If she didn't get back to Honey Country soon, who knows what could happen to Airen.


End file.
